Slurp n’ Gobble – the Noodles & Dumplings of North-West China 西北

“民以食为天 – food is the peoples’ heaven – hunger breeds discontentment“

– Chinese Proverb

China lives for food. Life here revolves around food. After the culinary barrenness of Central Asia, China is a continuous feast, for the eyes, for the nose, for our palates.

If you crave something in China, it is rare you will have to walk more than 500m to find it (at least in a town). The streets are overflowing with foodie options, fit for the small appetite or a starving customer, there are big bowls and small plates, rumbling hot pots and little cold ‘tapas’, steaming baskets and fiery woks.

In the NorthWest, there are chillies. Ready to set your tongue ablaze, there are red chillies, green chillies, Sichuan peppercorns and 麻辣 mah-lah, the mouth-numbing sauce, flaming and oily and only for the brave.

Above all, there are noodles and dumplings. There are countless specialties that the North does well, but a northerner lives for noodles. As one that we met put it, “not for the flimsy southern rice noodles, but for real noodles, hand-made, fresh and with a good bite.”

For someone on a budget, they are some of the best things you can eat in the region, cheap, delicious and fast. Coming from the West by land, it was fascinating to see where pasta in Italy ended, disappeared and reappeared as laghman noodles in Central Asia. Ravioli vanished and returned as lamb-filled chuchvara and manti in Central Asia.

The well-known myth or history depending on who you want to believe says that Marco Polo brought pasta from China to Italy. There is a lot of debate over this and compelling evidence arguing against, but after having tried all the type of noodles we could get our hands on in NorthWest China, it is hard to believe there is no connection. Perhaps an Arab trader brought it along the Silk Road at some point before Marco Polo ever set foot in Asia, either way, we found a Chinese-Italian equivalent for almost every noodle we tried. For me personally it was irresistible  to see the similarities and links between my two culinary heritages. The examples below are by no means exhaustive, but you can make up your own mind!

THE SLURPING

There can be no Chinese noodles without the Slurp. Inhaling equal amounts of air, soup and noodle at the same time, a real gourmand does not consume their bowl in silence. Suck, swallow, lick your lips, aaaah. Clap your lips together in satisfaction and rub your exposed belly. The soup has made you hot, to aid digestion, you roll up your t-shirt to allow your belly a breath of fresh air. Yum yum. There is no need for spoons here, finish your noodles, hold the bowl up to your lips and slurp some more, sniffing in all that luscious broth. Yum yum.

#1 铺盖面 Quilt Cover Noodles

These large sheets appropriately named after a winter quilt, are just that, cozy and comforting. Chinese Lasagna, now it all makes sense! Instead of layering ragù and bechamel into an oven, these sheets are topped with mince meat, chopped spring onions and a first for us in China, chick peas. All of it simmering in a spicy beef broth with just a hint of Sichuan peppercorns thrown in. 

They actually originate from Chongqing, but we slurped away at them in the Tibetan town of Kangding, Sichuan. Just make sure to protect your clothes while devouring them – extra large sheets, means extra large drops and flecks flying everywhere as you try to grip the slippery suckers with your chopsticks. 

Definitely a dish reinforcing the “pasta comes from China” argument. 

#2 刀削面 Knife Scraped Noodles

Tagliatelle! These wide threads were probably our favourite and most consumed noodle dish. In beef broth with leafy green vegetables or stir fried with meat, onions and peppers, the best versions we found were in Muslim halal 清真 noodle joints.

Traditionally from the Shanxi region, it involves scraping a large block of dough with a wide slanted knife, its edges shaped like a potato peeler. The noodles are sliced directly into the boiling broth and then drenched in cold water to ensure their “al dente” texture.

Legend has it, that when the Mongol Tartars occupied the Central Plains, they confiscated all the “weapons” leaving every ten households with a single kitchen knife. An old man wanting to make noodles one day went to use the shared knife, but due to his lack of negotiation skills, left empty-handed. On his way home he found a piece of metal by the roadside that he could hide in his breast pocket. He proudly showed his wife who ridiculed him for being useless and returning home without a kitchen knife. Determined, the old man made his dough, boiled some broth and instead of slicing the noodles traditionally, held up the large dough and scraped pieces into the broth directly with his new tool. Once ready he stirred the fresh noodles with some meat sauce and from that day on he declared, “we don’t need the knife anymore, this is even better”. And the 刀削面 was born. 

#3 炸酱面 Fried Sauce Noodles

a.k.a Spaghetti Bolognese. There is no way Marco Polo was not inspired by this dish, it is the closest to how we eat spaghetti today. Long thin wheat noodles, not served in broth, not stir fried, but topped with a rich gravy cooked separately and tossed together to coat each strand in perfect juiciness.

Different variations of the 炸酱面 exist, the classic northern sauce is made of minced pork stir-fried with fermented soya bean paste, though hoisin sauce, soya sauce and fava bean paste can also be used. Sometimes we got the extra bonus of crushed peanuts and pickled long beans scattered on top. Every chef has their own secret blend, but the best one we tried was in Zhangye, Gansu. 

#4 炮仗面 Firecracker Noodles

This firecracker of a noodle is named for its short tube-like shape as well as the “celebrations” it creates in its eater. Traditionally from Qinghai and Gansu, it is a Hui Muslim dish, incorporating sour flavours from Xinjiang, Uighur “al dente” noodle texture and Han beef broth – a real melting pot of a dish. 

The dough requires more kneading than usual to maintain its smooth, but chewy consistency and the noodles are thrown into a peppery lamb broth which is said to release firecrackers into the gourmand’s stomach. Some people still refer to it as the “Flu/Cold” soup since its fieriness will make you sweat all your bad germs out. 

#5 兰州拉面 Lanzhou Lamian

This is where ramen comes from, not the Japanese one as you know it, but lamian – Chinese hand-pulled noodles (ramen was simply a variation in pronunciation). It is the original spaghetti.

There is magic in the hands of a lamian noodle maker. In under a minute, a large oblong-shaped piece of dough is pulled into delicate threads of wheat flour and water. Fingers dig into either sides of the dough at exactly the right places and miraculously it is flipped, stretched and thrown into boiling broth.

Lanzhou lamian are to be slurped and downed with the same speed as an Italian espresso. Quick and dirty, it is a fast-food kind of dish. Many consume it for breakfast, a daily necessity. Many noodle shops are at their busiest in the early morning and any serious joint will conjure them up fresh-to-order. The beef broth carries most of its flavour reputation, fragrant enough to carry the noodles on its own – radish, flat-leaf parsley, coriander, garlic and chilli merge together to release a heady scent.  It is a cheap dish as well, rarely going over 7 yuan per bowl ($1) unless you ask to 加肉 (add meat) then it rises to 10 or 12 yuan. A steaming bowl is every man’s right, reminding me of bread and coffee prices in Italy – no respectable and honourable bar will charge you more than €1 for an espresso.

First sampled by the upper class in the Qing Dynasty, this noodle dish has stood the test of time and looks likely to stay.

#6 凉粉 Cold Jelly Noodles

Literally “cold powder/noodle” this is almost always eaten cold and on the street. It is definitely a northern chinese favourite, advertised on every other cart on the streets of Urumqi, Lanzhou and Chengdu.

One of the only exceptions to using wheat for noodles in the north, it is made from mung bean starch or potato starch, boiled with water and allowed to set into a white translucent jelly which is then sliced into thin strips or cubes and served with vinegar, sesame oil, soya sauce, garlic, parsley and lots of chilli.

Occasionally it is stir fried with carrots and cabbage and in Yunnan it can be tinged yellow as it is made with chickpea flour instead.

THE GOBBLING

Dumplings and noodles in China go hand in hand. Many noodle shops will have stacks of steaming bamboo baskets on their doorstep in the morning, harbouring succulent little pockets of minced meat, ginger and cabbage. Vice versa, many kitchens specializing in dumplings will have a noodle soup or two to offer. Here are some of our favourites from the region. 

#1 包子 Buns

Traditional northern Chinese cuisine uses wheat as the counterpart to the south’s rice. It is also the birthplace of Chinese “bread”. During the Han dynasty, grain grinding techniques led to an increase in steaming bread, usually crustless white and fluffy globes, they are referred to as mantou 曼头 or flat and round bing 餅. However, it was not until the Northern Song Dynasty where the first mention of stuffed bread appears.

Baozi 包子 are modest buns, often not bigger than your palm and filled with all kinds of goodness, from leeks and pork to lamb and carrots. Just like lamian they are often consumed for breakfast and though they would make a good snack it is usually difficult to find good ones after midday.

#2 蒸饺子 Steamed Dumplings

Hands down our favourite dumpling is the steamed jiaozi 蒸饺子. They can also be boiled 水餃 or pan-fried 鍋貼 (literally pot stickers).

The story goes that a famous chinese medicine doctor Zhang Zhongjing invented them in a soup used to cure frostbite in his village. The dough was wrapped into tender ear (jiao er) shapes because it was said to be a concoction that warmed the ears. Over time, the chinese characters changed into jiaozi.

Chinese jiaozi have numerous cousins of wrapped goodness in the world, from Japanese gyoza, Korean mandu, Central Asian manti, Tibetan & Nepali momo, Italian ravioli, Polish pierogi, Russian pelmeni…the list goes on. In the North, a whole meal can be composed of homemade jiaozi, the filling ranging from beef, lamb, pork, shrimp, green peppers, cabbage, leeks, mushrooms, carrots, the sky is the limit.

We always get excited at the sight of a tower of bamboo steamers accompanied by the 饺子 sign, fingers crossed that they have not been emptied yet.

#3 Momos/Amdo Tibetan Dumplings

Usually associated with Nepal and Tibet, these pretty dumplings are omnipresent in Qinghai, Gansu and Western Sichuan where there are large Tibetan populations, formerly part of the Amdo and Kham regions.

In Tibetan China, they are often filled with yak meat, goat or lamb with onions and cabbage. In the town of Labrang, we learnt to make heart-warming Amdo dumplings boiled in spinach soup, perfect for the cold mountain air. They can also be steamed or pan-fried.

#4 抄手 Sichuan Wontons 

Wontons can be found all over China and are probably one of the most common aspects of Chinese cuisine you will find abroad. Wonton differ from jiaozi in its wrapping, with eggs included in the dough and usually start with a square base rather than round. They are also most likely boiled or deep-fried, avoiding the steamer.

In Sichuan these delicate gems are named chaoshou 抄手 meaning “crossed hands” since folding over the corners of wrapping resembles the action. Often served in soup over a mountain of crunchy bean sprouts and soft mushrooms, they can also be dipped in the much loved Sichuan red oil (difficult to stomach for us) or dressed up in ginger, vinegar and chillies.

Tell us this has not made you hungry.