Tang Yun Noodle House opens in Centereach
The signature sauerkraut fish soup at Tang Yun Noodle House in Centereach. Credit: Newsday/Erica Marcus
When did Centereach get so cosmopolitan? This summer brought the openings of German Doner Kebabs, Tous le Jours (French bakery by way of Korea) and Pisco Nikkei (celebrating the Japanese-fusion cuisine of Peru). The very same shopping center has also welcomed Tang Yun Noodle House, specializing in soups from China, Japan and Vietnam. It opened in October.
The shop’s signature soup is from China’s Sichuan Province: sauerkraut fish soup. Not only does it not contain noodles, it does not contain sauerkraut. "Suan cai yu" takes its name from suan cai, salted-and-fermented mustard greens, a condiment that is similar enough to European sauerkraut (salted-and-fermented cabbage) to explain why it is regularly translated thus.
The greens lend the soup a pleasantly sour savor that blends with ginger, garlic and the incendiary heat of Sichuan peppers to create a powerful broth. But the secret to the soup’s success is that the protein here is fish, your choice of basa or snakehead, curled-up fillets of which float alongside cubes of fried tofu to provide little islands of mild relief. There are nine variations of the soup — among them, green pepper, mushroom, Korean kimchi and tomato-beef — and they range in price from $17.95 to $20.95 for small, $24.95 to $26.95 for large. (Bear in mind that "large" can easily feed two to three people.)
Tang Yun's owner, Sophia Yu, lives in Smithtown, where she also owns Pho Fans Vietnamese (open since 2019), as well as the Tous Les Jours franchise next door to Tang Yun. She is a native of Fuzhou, a city in southeastern China 1,200 miles from the province of Sichuan. But, she said, Sichuan sauerkraut fish soup is popular all over China and she’s betting on its making a splash here on Long Island.
An anime-style mural dominates the dining room at Tang Yun Noodle House in Centereach. Credit: Newsday/Erica Marcus
"Tang Yun" means "flavor of soup," and the restaurant's mission is to deliver on flavor, regardless of the soup in question. So far, the most popular item on the menu is ramen. "I don’t usually eat ramen," Yu confessed. "I find it too heavy." That’s why the version at Tang Yun has a lighter broth. Ramen variations ($15.95 to $17.95) include pork, chicken, beef, vegetable and combination. The third leg of the soup stool is Vietnamese pho ($12.95 to $18.95), available with various cuts of beef, chicken, seafood and vegetables.
The menu also features non-soup items from China (dumplings, pork bao, steamed bok choy with oyster sauce), Japan (edamame, octopus balls) and Vietnam (summer rolls, over-rice dishes) as well as Thai tea, Vietnamese coffee, fruit and boba teas. It’s a soaring, stylish dining room with comfortable seats and tables that, smartly, are equipped with a generous pile of napkins.
Tang Yun Noodle House, 1759 Middle Country Rd., Centereach, 631-885-9996, tangyunnoodlehouse.com. Open Sunday to Thursday 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
