【Longshang this bowl of noodles】
Tianshui crushed noodles
Text/Ye Zi
Dry crushed noodles
What kind of noodles is it?
Many people hear this name, very curious, noodles on the noodles, but also broken noodles, not at all the heroism of the northwest, but it is indeed a daily pasta of Tianshui. In Tianshui, people prefer to call it "finches tongue".
In the Tianshui dialect, this word is not pronounced as sparrow's sparrow, but by qiao. Just like the Tianshui dialect, the bird word is not read by the bird, but also by qiao. Why is the broken noodles called "finches tongue", which is similar to the shape, because it is shaped like the tongue of a small sparrow.
Interestingly, the countryside of Tianshui does not eat much broken noodles, it is mainly popular in the old town of Tianshui, especially in the area of Laoxiguan.
1
The birth of a bowl of broken noodles is really a tedious and meticulous job.
Just being a noodle is a lot of work. Unlike ordinary noodles, rolling out is enough, and the noodles of the broken noodles must be rolled out into thin and even noodles, and they must be dried for a while, and then cut into small pieces of noodles about 1 cm long. The trick is to roll out the dough until it is soft dry, cut it into diamond shapes, and cut it thinly and evenly. Then, put these small dough pieces in the shape of a finch tongue in a dish and set aside.
Then, it's time to make a face.
The shredded noodles, extremely elaborate, and ordinary Northwest pasta, first put the fried half-cooked chicken into the pot, slowly cook over low heat, wait for the aroma to boil out, and then with diced or grained or fine shredded kelp, squeezed vegetables, egg cakes and shrimp skin, simmered together, the aroma is extremely strong. When the noodles are ready, cook the minced noodles out of the pot, pour the noodles, sprinkle some coriander, and sprinkle the spicy seeds with vinegar, salt and oil.
Of course, it is best to accompany some cold side dishes.
Broken noodles, because they are broken, do not use chopsticks, but use a spoon. Therefore, eating crushed noodles is not like eating a bowl of pulled noodles or pulling strips, holding up and eating, heroic and unrestrained, but some elegant and gentle. Tianshui has the reputation of "Longshang Jiangnan", broken noodles, it is very Jiangnan. It is even said that placing a bowl of Tianshui shredded noodles in a small alley in Shanghai or in the depths of the ancient streets of Suzhou is also in line with the gentle and elegant tone.
Yes, a bowl of broken noodles is lined with the elegance and refinement of the ancient city of Tianshui.
2
The poet is noble, the one I have ever met who loves to eat broken noodles.
Watching him eat crumbled noodles is a real treat. He bowed his head and didn't speak, not even asking much about the small dishes on the table. When the bowl was almost finished, he craned his neck and began to shout: Boss, another bowl. He was able to grasp the time and rhythm just right, this bowl had just finished eating, and the next bowl had just been served. He went on to eat. He not only finished eating the noodles, but also drank the soup without leaving any traces. As he drank, he exclaimed: This soup is fresh. Each time, he had to eat at least two bowls, and occasionally three bowls. The ancients drank wine, three bowls but gang, poets noble eat Tianshui broken noodles, do not eat two or three bowls is not back to Lanzhou City. After eating, he drew a tissue, wiped his mouth, smiled and said:
Full!
The friend next to him, hey hey smile, said, full is good.
In those years, the friendship between the poets was more or less like this, pure and beautiful, as if it were not in a luxurious banquet, but in a bowl of broken noodles. He often went to the broken noodle restaurant where he ate, at the intersection of Qingnian South Road and turning into a pedestrian street. Now, it has become a specialty store for designer clothes. I've been away from Tianshui for years, and I don't know where the shop moved, but I remember that at lunchtime, people who ate crumbed noodles always lined up in long lines.
The owner is also really shrewd, never expanding the storefront, just let you wait in line to eat, but more people.
3
There was a Hubei poet Huang Hai who lived in Xi'an who came to Tianshui, and I accompanied him to see the Maijishan Grottoes and took him to eat broken noodles. He was very fond of Tianshui's broken noodles and wrote a colloquial poem:
A certain year
Me and the poet Ye Zi
On the banks of the river
Eat the best noodles in the world
The most crushed, the most flavorful, the freshest
And sour and spicy noodles
Shrimp skin and egg skin
Float on top of a thin diamond-shaped dough
Best looking
He ate in one bowl
Shout another bowl
The finch tongue of the Tianshui dialect
Not comparable
This is the most intriguing Qin tone
Many years later, Tianshui
There has never been such a good sound
Ye Zi spoke
Eat in one bowl
Another bowl
Time flies.
In a flash, many years have passed. He often goes to Tianshui now, and he doesn't know if he still eats broken noodles. He was an excellent poet, and he had changed his course in the past few years to write novels—I really hope that one day, he will write about the broken surface of Tianshui into his own novels.
4
In the winter of 2020, I took a vacation to return to my hometown, every day there was nothing to do, I looked for Tianshui delicacies, today I went to Ganquan to eat a meal, tomorrow I went to soap corner to eat a bowl of slurry water, and the day after tomorrow I went to Qin'an Old Town to eat a bowl of sour and spicy belly silk soup, which was quite nostalgic. Suddenly, a friend recommended a chicken soup noodle on Taoyuan Road, and went to see it.
Broken noodles, on the gastronomic map of Tianshui, are divided into chicken, lamb and beef. Since the legend is chicken soup shredded noodles, naturally they decisively gave up the cow and sheep cheeks. After eating a bowl, it was delicious. Its goodness lies in the chicken soup, fresh and rich, but just right, oily and not greasy. Ask carefully, its chicken is an old hen in the Niangniangba area of the West Qinling Mountains, a real free-range native chicken. Moreover, the stewed seasoning is very rich, peppercorns, large incense, cinnamon, cumin, ginger, all available.
However, this humble small shop seems to be too mixed in varieties, including pulp water surface, flat food, and soft buns. In fact, it is better to choose one of the many pasta dishes and end up, take a professional road, and specialize in Tianshui broken noodles. I thought of the name of the shop for her, it is called Tianshui Broken Noodle Restaurant, simple, and has a domineering spirit, but unfortunately, the owner does not like it.
She did approve of my advice.