Fujianese cuisine takes center stage at this new Prospect Heights stunner

By Scott Lynch

Evan Toretto Li was born in Fujian, on the coast of southeast China, and spent much of his first 18 years bouncing between there and Hunan, which is slightly more inland. When he moved to Brooklyn with his family in 2006 two things surprised him: that “the vast majority” of Sunset Park residents were also Fujianese; and, even though so many of his new neighbors worked in restaurants, how difficult it was to find real Fujian food in his adopted city.

“Fujian food and culture was barely represented,” Li tells Brooklyn Magazine. “Chinese food is more than just Cantonese, Shanghainese and Sichuan! But no one was representing that.”

To be fair to all those un-representers, Li’s first restaurant in New York City was the “neo-Sichuanese” dry pot hit MáLà Project, which he founded with Meng Ai and Yishu He. Li also has done time at Tim Ho Wan (specializing in Hong Kong style dim sum), and the Sichuan-Cantonese spot (with Shanghainese decor) Cafe China. But Li’s dream, always, was to open his own place, where he could showcase the Fujianese dishes he grew up on.

Beef ban ban rice noodle, $16, right, with Fujianese wonton in chicken bone broth, $14 (Photo by Scott Lynch)

And so, after a year-long buildout on the ground floor of one of those enormous  new residential towers in Prospect Heights, last week Li opened Nin Hao, a spectacular space that celebrates the type of food he associates most with family.

“I was very firm that I wanted to open in Prospect Heights,” says Li. “It’s one of the most beautiful neighborhoods in New York City and everyone is so supportive. All the neighbors have been stopping by to welcome us. ‘Ni hao’ means ‘hello’ in English, but Nin Hao is a more respectful way to say it.”

Sauteed egg tomato with curry shrimp, $32 (Photo by Scott Lynch)

The chef here is Kim Hui Teo, who’s also Fujianese (and Malaysian) and who honed his cooking chops in the NYC kitchens of Tim Ho Wan and Red Farm. And though the Nin Hao menu includes some familiar fare — often with what Li calls a “fun twist,” like the fact that you can only get that Chinese-American restaurant mainstay General Tso’s chicken as a whole bird — my party went all in on the Fujianese stuff for our feast.

Teo’s starters are all excellent. The zingy Fujianese rouyan wonton features pig skin in the wrappers and water chestnut within. The taro pork rice balls come topped with a single, chewy goji berry. The eggy seafood pancake is exceptionally briny, thanks to the generously strewn imported Fujianese oysters and dried seaweed.

Fujianese spicy rouyan wonton, $15 (Photo by Scott Lynch)

And the wonton in chicken bone broth is wonderfully rich and restorative, especially when paired with its “best mate,” a tangle of beef ban ban rice noodles, which Li explains is the Fujianese version of dan dan noodles. Not terribly Fujianese but still great: the crunchy and spicy mountain jelly salad.

Mountain jelly salad, $8 (Photo by Scott Lynch)

The mains are massive here, easily enough for two or three people when supplemented with a few starters. Crustacean-heads will want to get the Coco Vancouver crab, billed as “Mama Li’s secret home cooking recipe” and starring an abundance of lovely sweet meat blanketing a mound of greasy glass noodles.

Coco Vancouver crab glass noodle, $68 (Photo by Scott Lynch)

For a fusion-y experience, get the curry shrimp (“our favorite Thai dish”), with sauteed eggs and tomato (“a classic Chinese home dish”). But the biggest beast of the bunch has to be the beef short ribs, which are basically a dozen or so fatty slabs of cow, crusted and deep-fried, and served with a salty dipping sauce. Li calls it “a shout out to all the Fujianese restaurants of Sunset Park.”

Beef short ribs, $55 (Photo by Scott Lynch)

The space is all new construction, impressively so, dominated by an enormous colorful mural on the far wall by artist Chemin Hsiao. The painting depicts “a 23-part story” called “A Journey to the West,” says Li, and harbors lots of fun little details (see if you can find Kobe Bryant). Cocktails “inspired by a trip around China” cost $18, a 16-ounce Talea will set you back $14, and a glass of wine runs about $17.

“I have a really high standard for myself,” says Li, “but my goal is to bring joy to the neighborhood.”

Nin Hao is located at 595 Dean Street, between Vanderbilt and Carlton Avenues, and is currently open on Sunday through Wednesday from 5 to 10 p.m., and on Thursday through Saturday from 5 to 10:30.