Hand-Pulled Noodles: A Cheap & Local Spot for Shanxi Cuisine
- Leo Shin
- Jun 12
- 3 min read
Food at a local down-to-earth store often trumps fine dining. 𰻞 is the hardest character to write in chinese, with the greatest number of radicals. It's used to describe the sound that the noodle makes on impact with the kitchen table, as they handmake the noodles. 𰻞 𰻞 noodles, usually topped with diced vegetables, tomatoes, and chili oil, has become a staple in Chinese cuisine.
As soon as you enter the restaurant, one element of the interior stands out: the steaming kitchen. A stretched banner, categorizng different types of noodles, is proudly displayed. Through underneath the banner, you see chefs in hairnets hard at work. They form the noodles, stretch it, and apply force to turn it into beautiful strands of flour.
The digital displays on the walls of the restaurant emphasize the freshness and organic quality of ingredients that they use. Particularly, they emphasize where they source their lamb. Speaking of lamb, let's segue into exploring some of the dishes they offer.
Dishes:
Refreshing, salty, and tingling with spice - this was the perfect apettizer to a carb heavy meal. The texture is difficult to describe, but here's my take: It's spinach, but with a firmer texture and a nuttier flavor. There is a slight bitterness that might put you off, but as long as you get past it, it's a tasty cold appetizer.
Roujiamo is a classic street snack and is often coined the "world's oldest hamburger," although that nickname isn't doing it justice. In between two pieces of crispy and dense flatbread, they place a chunk of pork meat, usually stewed for hours in spices. You bite into the crunchy flatbread, sink into the fall-apart tender pork, and develop an addiction for roujiamo. Succulent pork with perfect, crispy flatbread is unbeatable.
They also serve hearty bowls of broth with chunks of lamb meat and glass noodles. The lamb broth makes up the foundation of many of their dishes. It's soothing, warm, and flavorful. It has a complex favour that chicken stock will never have. It also comes with a piece of flatbread that I'd recommend dipping into the broth. It's a comforting, cheap, and quick meal.
Another option at the restaurant is to order the lamb broth without noodles. They'll bring it with a piece of flatbread that you can tear up and drop into the broth. In case you were wondering, the spice level for all of these dishes can be modified. They provide default options of mild spice and plain. If you prefer even more spice, they have condiments of chili oil on the table.
Fresh hand-pulled noodles are always a delight with a chewy and bouncy texture. The toppings were a simple assortment of vegetables: wood-ear mushrooms, carrots, spiced meat, and chives. But, the broth was special with a pickled sourness that complimented the spice and meatiness. If you want a noodle dish that has a tangy profile, try it out.
The squashed cucumbers, lamb skewers, and liangpi noodles were also great, but they were covered a few times in previous blog posts, so we won't go into detail about them. The lamb skewers weren't the best I've ever had, but the cucumbers were refreshing and definitely crunchy. The liangpi noodles was slightly overseasoned, but otherwise had great texture with those sponge tofus, peanuts, and julienned-vegetable toppings.
These steamed buns are a classic. The filling of red beans and dates is decadent, the bun is pillowy, and it is one of Shanxi's traditional snacks. The yellow color of the bun comes from the millet flour that makes up the dough. Try it out if you still have room after the hefty main dishes.
Overall Summary
Comforting, and filling bowls of lamb broth are their primary attraction. The appetizers of cold cucumber and their pastries like the steamed bun are also great, but I wouldn't go to this restaurant for these widespread dishes available at every Chinese restaurant. Dipping the flatbread into the broth or scooping up the glass noodles with a spoon adds to the comfort of the dish. Aside from the broth and noodles, try out their Roujiamo. For a quick one-person meal, there couldn't be a better spot.
Address: 紫竹路383弄21号东郊中心I栋101室
Room 101, Building I, Dongjiao Center, Lane 383, Zizhu Road
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