Everyday inside the walls of a small, unassuming shop on the south side of Arch Street just east of 10th, a Vietnamese family makes homemade fresh rice noodles, an art they have truly perfected. The shop, Ding Ho, supplies many of the local Chinatown restaurants with their prized noodles — the freshest and the best in the city.

Like other Chinatown minimarts, an odd assortment of goods lines the shelves of the shop: Anything from women’s undergarments to Vietnamese sausage to bean sprouts can be found at Ding Ho.

At first glance, the fresh rice noodles — not the packaged fresh rice noodles — are nowhere to be found. On a moveable cart hidden behind the counter, however, stacks of freshly made, glistening-white, folded sheets lay covered with plastic wrap. When the woman behind the counter asks “how much?” she wants a dollar amount not a weight. For rolls, one dollar’s worth will easily feed two people.

These noodles, when rolled with grilled shrimp, mint, cilantro, Thai basil, lettuce and pickled carrots and daikon and served with nuoc cham (the Vietnamese dipping sauce made with lime juice, fish sauce, rice vinegar, sugar and chili sauce), make a delicious dinner.

To sample this delicacy, ask the woman for a small ($1) or large ($2) serving of the noodles steaming inside the large rice cooker-like vessel sitting on the counter. The warm noodles get sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds and a sauce — a secret sauce — the recipe for which the woman will never disclose. She has admitted that four sauces comprise her creation, and some of these ingredients include peanut sauce, hoisin, and rice vinegar. I would guess that somewhere in that mix is a dash or two of fish sauce.

The woman cuts the noodles with scissors into a disposable clamshell, places two small tubs of sweetened soy sauce inside and packages it all in a plastic bag. A fork, not chopsticks, is the choice utensil for these noodles. Don’t ask for chopsticks, she won’t give you them.

I discovered this treat almost two years ago and have found a reason to travel to Chinatown on their behalf nearly every week since. While the price makes these noodles an attractive lunch, that’s not why I go. If that clamshell of goodness cost $10, it would still be a steal.

Ding Ho
930 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107
(215) 922-2929