Regional specialty noodles are a cut above the rest

With its landscape of plateaus bound by mountains, Shanxi province in North China is regarded across the country as being associated with fields of wheat and iconic wheat products.

It is said that the people of Shanxi know as many as 100 different techniques of cooking with wheat flour, using them in the making of many unique and special noodle dishes.

None of Shanxi's noodle dishes is more iconic than that of daoxiaomian, translated as knife-cut noodles.

To add to the allure of the dish the element of spectacle is key, with chefs using a special knife to quickly and elegantly slice dough－the process propelling the thick in the center and thin at the edge noodles in the air until landing with a splash in a pot of boiling water.

Locals say that some of the most skilled chefs can slice up to 200 noodles a minute.

The dish, which is believed to date back to the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), is often served with a rich, meat-based sauce to the delight of diners across the province and beyond.

In the city of Taiyuan, capital of Shanxi province, any number of fine restaurants can be found serving up delicacies from across the country such as from Sichuan and Hunan.

But it is the local Shanxi food that really gets most people salivating.

Local eateries such as Shanxi Huiguan, Shunliu'er and Datong Knife-sliced Noodles have been serving satisfied customers in the city for generations.

Like daoxiaomian, chefs have intertwined spectacle with the techniques to make other dishes.

At restaurants operated by Taiyuan Qingxurenjia Jinyunlou Catering Culture Development, customers watch in amazement as talented chefs perform a dance while making lamian, which means pulled noodles.

The chefs swing the noodles around with elegance as they stretch longer and longer, thinner and thinner before finally making their way to the pot for boiling. The routines are always met with rapturous applause.

Qu Yong, an executive from Taiyuan Qingxurenjia Jinyunlou Catering Culture Development, said Shanxi abounds in wheat crops and other coarse cereals such as buckwheat, maize, sorghum and millet, and so that's why there is such a wealth of wheat and noodle dishes.

Another specialty of Shanxi is huamo－a method of decorating specially shaped steamed buns. So intricate are the designs that the techniques have become a folk art unique to Shanxi, particularly the province's Wenxi county where hundreds of huamo are made during Tomb Sweeping Day in early April shaped as animals such as fish, birds, tigers and dragons.

songmengxing@chinadaily.com.cn