{"id":798,"date":"2011-10-25T12:00:15","date_gmt":"2011-10-25T16:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/?p=798"},"modified":"2011-10-25T11:54:27","modified_gmt":"2011-10-25T15:54:27","slug":"chinese-pulled-noodles-%e6%8b%89%e9%9d%a2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/chinese-pulled-noodles-%e6%8b%89%e9%9d%a2\/","title":{"rendered":"Everything But the Table: L\u0101 Mi\u00e0n Noodles (\u62c9\u9762)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2010\/05\/crystal_jade_1.jpg\" aria-label=\"Crystal Jade 1 300x225\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-803\"  alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/ src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2010\/05\/crystal_jade_1-300x225.jpg\"><\/a>As temperatures continue to plummet, the prospect of finding something hot and spicy to warm your belly becomes all the more appealing. If it wasn&#8217;t for today&#8217;s elegant yet simplistic dish, \u62c9\u9762 (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.mandarintools.com\/sounds\/la1.aif\">l\u0101<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mandarintools.com\/sounds\/mian4.aif\">mi\u00e0n<\/a>) or pulled noodles,\u00a0I don&#8217;t know how I could weather the frigid Beijing winter as it approaches.<\/p>\n<p>So if you want to stay warm, add this dish to your culinary repertoire. These noodles are <em>the<\/em> ultimate comfort food and a favorite of just about everyone I&#8217;ve met (among both foreigners and Chinese people). To quote Kung Fu Panda, &#8220;we are noodle folk&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>Much like its Japanese equivalent, ramen, \u62c9\u9762 is an ancient practice of literally &#8220;pulling&#8221; noodle apart from one big chunk of starch. Hence the transliteration: &#8220;pull noodle&#8221;. Watching a \u62c9\u9762 noodle master go to work is much like watching an Italian chef hand toss a pizza crust; involving an amazing slight of hand and strength that includes a little entertainment for the salivating audience.<\/p>\n<p>As the noodles-to-be flip, slap and twist under the direction of the chef&#8217;s nimble hands, you can&#8217;t help but wonder how many hours were spent perfecting this doughy dance. Check out the video below:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"\u62c9\u9762 (La Mian) Handmade noodles\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/J1iLQIhHjkk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Much like, \u4e32\u513f (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.mandarintools.com\/sounds\/chuan4.aif\">chu\u00e0n<\/a>r) and \u00a0\u997a\u5b50 (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.mandarintools.com\/sounds\/jiao3.aif\">ji\u01ceo<\/a> zi)\uff0c\u62c9\u9762 is simplistic and comforting food, that sells for cheap (\u4fbf\u5b9c pi\u00e1n yi) and cures what ails you. While its roots trace back to central Asia, \u62c9\u9762 has worked its way east through western provinces of China, namely \u65b0\u7586 (x\u012bn ji\u0101ng) and \u5170\u5dde (l\u00e1n zh\u014du). Eventually the mixture of basic, easily found ingredients, strong spices and availability to all income classes, brought the appeal of \u62c9\u9762 east, where it has been a staple of Chinese food since.<\/p>\n<p>For a meager price, a big, piping hot bowl is all yours. Usually \u62c9\u9762 is a mixture of cilantro-like greens, bamboo shoots or tofu, chicken stock, green peppers (\u9752\u6912) and strips of beef. You may be wondering to yourself: So what? Basically it&#8217;s chicken noodle soup, right? Wrong. Just like dumplings, the \u62c9\u9762 eating experience is all up to what you put into it, literally.<\/p>\n<p>Spicy \u8fa3\u6912 sauce is always available along with vinegar or \u918b (c\u00f9) and fresh greens (parsley\/cilantro). Even soy sauce or \u9171\u6cb9 (ji\u00e0ng y\u00f3u) available at most restaurants, if you want that extra salty kick. Just mix it into your bowl until you&#8217;ve found that perfect, almost scientifically measured concoction that touches on all five basic tastes. That being said, you can always experiment with your \u62c9\u9762, or even take your dining experience to extremes. Once I saw a man eating a bowl of \u62c9\u9762 so bright red with \u8fa3\u6912 (chili sauce) that he was visibly in pain, yet still methodically slurping away (he later said it was a sure fire way to cure the common cold or \u611f\u5192g\u01cen m\u00e0o).<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/chinese-pulled-noodles-%e6%8b%89%e9%9d%a2\/lottalamian\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-6501\" aria-label=\"Lottalamian 300x225\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-6501\"  alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/ src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2011\/10\/lottalamian-300x225.jpg\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>On a cold day, there&#8217;s nothing better than a steaming hot bowl of \u62c9\u9762 to warm your belly. All you need to do is find a restaurant with \u201c\u5170\u5dde\u62c9\u9762\u201d on the front, grab a chair, and ask for \u4e00\u7897 \uff08yiw\u01cen). Within minutes order will be up. Throw in some spices, grab a beer or \u5564\u9152 (p\u00ed ji\u01d4) and between slurps, ask yourself why you ever would take Mcdonalds or KFC over this fast food delicacy.<\/p>\n<p>After you&#8217;ve gone to town, take a second to pull your face out of your bowl and take a look around you. The laughter, slurps and crowds should be proof enough that China is a nation of noodle folk.\u00a0Just be forewarned that on a particularly cold day, you may not even be able to get a seat.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Follow Steve on twitter: @seeitbelieveit<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<img width=\"350\" height=\"263\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2011\/10\/lottalamian-350x263.jpg\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image tmp-hide-img\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2011\/10\/lottalamian-350x263.jpg 350w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2011\/10\/lottalamian.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/><p>As temperatures continue to plummet, the prospect of finding something hot and spicy to warm your belly becomes all the more appealing. If it wasn&#8217;t for today&#8217;s elegant yet simplistic dish, \u62c9\u9762 (l\u0101 mi\u00e0n) or pulled noodles,\u00a0I don&#8217;t know how I could weather the frigid Beijing winter as it approaches. So if you want to&hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"post-item__readmore\"><a class=\"btn btn--md\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/chinese-pulled-noodles-%e6%8b%89%e9%9d%a2\/\">Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":6501,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[8119,69659,8718,378679,69658,69655,69656,8716,8715,8717,69657],"class_list":["post-798","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","tag-chinese-food","tag-chinese-street-food","tag-culinary","tag-culture","tag-everything-but-the-table","tag-kung-fu-panda","tag-noodle-folk","tag-pulled-noodles","tag-ramen-noodles","tag-soup","tag-69657"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/798","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/43"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=798"}],"version-history":[{"count":24,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/798\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3558,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/798\/revisions\/3558"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6501"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=798"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=798"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=798"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}