Wokipedia Holiday Special: Nice Noodle Guide #3
Cold? Nope, me neither. But would you pass on the promise of a warming dose of north west hospitality? Thought not! Gansu and Xinjiang Province take centre stage for today’s Xibei-skewed Nice Noodle Guide instalment. One soupy; the other saucy. Both delicious.
Lanzhou (兰州)
Lanzhou beef noodles (lanzhou lamian, 兰州牛肉拉面)
Thin, hand-pulled noodles in a slow-cooked, clear beef broth flavored with radish, coriander and large cubes of meltingly tender meat.
The noodle Hand-pulled into long, thin fibers using a shallow skipping rope action – guaranteed harder than it looks. The noodles cook quickly and take on the flavor of the soup.
The local “The soup is the most important part, it should be a ‘lao tang’ with a rich but delicate taste. It’s quite hard to find authentic version of this dish in Beijing. And you should have some big pieces of meat too, and they must be delicious!” Yang Ji (Hotelier)
The restaurant Yanlan Restaurant at Jingshan Park west gate packs out daily for its soup – check out the chefs twirling noodles in the open kitchen and then plunging them into the huge steaming cauldron. Or try the authentic Lanzhou Hotel Restaurant (兰州宾馆餐厅) close to Xizhimen subway station.
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Xinjiang (新疆)
Stir-fried pulled noodles (chao latiaozi 炒拉条子)
Substantial handmade noodles stir-fried with a tomato-based sauce heavy on the mutton and veggies, especially green pepper, carrots, potato, tomato, onion, garlic shoots, wood ear and others. A variant (I think) is过油肉拌面, essentially the same dish but the sauce is stirred into the noodles afterwards.
The noodle Very long, chunky and chewy wheat noodles. You could probably weave a rope ladder out of them, or use one to lasso a wayward goat. Big and filling.
The local “I like to eat this dish with my boyfriend in the winter. You have to use the same plate because the noodles are so long and twisted. It's quite romantic." Gulistan, (artist)
The restaurant Any of the Xinjiang restaurants on our directory will do the job, or even your local ‘dive’ but the cheaper places will definitely cut corners. My local, Xinjiang Fengwei’r Canguan on Gulou Dongdajie, does a winning version (pictured) packed with warming chunks of tomato, wood ear fungus, garlic shoots and other goodies.
