As we leave central China, distinctly, we seem to be straying away from rice country into noodle country. And there seems to be an assortment of noodles to sample, ranging from Lanzhou beef noodles 牛肉面, to Bang Bang Noodles (chinese characters too complicated - see photo), to sour and spicy "parpardelle" 燥肉面片, to "kneaded fish noodles" 搓鱼面 and now I've also tried mutton noodle soup 羊肉面片 as well as wontons 馄饨. The principle of mutton noodle soup seems to be similar to that of Lanzhou beef noodles, ie. clear consomme made from the meat in question (beef or mutton, as the case may be) with noodles and just a little meat, except that beef noodle soup is traditionally consumed only at breakfast because the noodles are freshly made in the morning and will retain their chewiness only for a short time. I can testify to this because I had the beef noodle soup this morning and it was so much more al dente than the late night beef noodle soup that I had at the Wuwei train station restaurant.
Not surprisingly also, as we travel westwards, mutton also seems to be gaining in favour as a meat choice. Barbequed mutton skewers can be found everywhere at muslim barbeque "bars" with all parts of the mutton being barbequed (I emphasise - ALL parts). I have tried mutton meat 羊肉串, mutton "soft bone" (cartilage) 脆骨串, mutton "waist" 羊腰串, mutton skin 羊皮串 as well as the more prosaic barbequed potato slices 土豆串 and beancurd skin 豆腐皮串. (See photos).
More interestingly however, for lunch today, in between seeing the Taile River Gorge and the Wei-Jin Mausoleums, we stopped at Master Yuan 袁师傅 for some roast pork burgers 腊汁肉夹膜 which is basically roast pork pulled into small pieces and stuffed into a chinese pita pocket (this is the 夹膜) . Well, actually my friend had the "burger" while I tried the wontons. Master Yuan is actually a chain in Gansu province and if one is hungry for a burger, better this than McD's! Master Yuan operates on an open kitchen basis so one can see the chefs making the dough and then grilling them to form the pita pockets. Just like an open kitchen in any fancy private kitchen.
More food stories from Dunhuang later.
