Lanzhou beef noodles

Lanzhou beef noodles are named after the city of Lanzhou, in Gansu province, which stretches to the Yellow River and was a stop on the ancient Silk Road. During the Tang dynasty, the Muslim Hui people developed a variation of beef noodle soup noodle that is compatible with the Muslim diet, with easy-to-prepare ingredients. Local lore attributes its creation to Ma Baozi (), a Hui Chinese man from Lanzhou. Starting in the 1980s, the government of Hualong Hui Autonomous County in Qinghai province began offering financial incentives for the local Hui ethnic minority population to open ethnic food restaurants featuring Lanzhou lamian in the rest of China. Their distinctive thumping noodle-pulling performance, pastoral aesthetic, traditional hats, and inexpensive, filling one-bowl meals drove adoption throughout China. The success of this approach turned 'Lanzhou Lamian' into an extremely popular chain of restaurants, which now have 100,000 locations throughout China. While they have a fairly standardized appearance and operation, they are not an organized franchise establishment under a unified brand, and the government of Lanzhou has recently opened its own more formalized chain and started attempting to claw back some stake in use of the brand. An old saying states that Lanzhou has three treasures: "Auspicious gourds, beef noodles, and sheepskin rafts". During the 1990s the dish gained popularity nationwide as a fresh, very affordable and nutritious fast food. In 2001, Lanzhou beef noodles were designed as one of China's three main fastfood varieties (alongside Quanjude Peking duck and Goubuli baozi). In 2010, the dish was recognized with the Chinese equivalent of protected designation of origin. The skill of making Lanzhou beef noodles was included into China's national intangible cultural heritage list in 2021. == Description ==

Lanzhou beef noodles consist of hand-pulled lamian noodles, and clear consommé broth made from stewed beef. It often uses qingzhen (halal) meat and contains no soy sauce, resulting in a lighter taste that may be flavored by salt and herbs. Because of this, it is sometimes called "Qingdun beef noodles" (), where qingdun means meat stewed in clear broth without soy sauce. In halal restaurants, only quality local beef from the Southern Yellow cattle () prepared by the local halal butcher is used. Chinese radish and a specially cooked spicy oil are also indispensable partners to Lanzhou beef noodles. To identify the ingredients and the dish, the local government news company suggests preparing the soup by the following five steps: "One Clear, Two White, Three Red, Four Green, Five Yellow" (). First, the beef soup should look clear; Second, the radish slides should be crystal white; Thirdly, the color of the chili oil should be bright red; Fourth, the green cilantro leaves and garlic shoots should be jade, and, lastly, the noodle should be smooth and bright yellow. In overseas Chinese communities in North America, this food can be found in Chinese restaurants. In mainland China, a large bowl of it is often taken as a whole meal with or without any side dishes. == Styles ==

Traditional Lanzhou beef soup noodle could be made from any one of eight styles of noodles: Thinnest (), Thinner (), Thin (), Thick (), Thicker (), Prism (), Wide (), and Wider (). Thinnest or hair-thin is "a round noodle about two-thirds of the thickness of a spaghetti", and the thinner style and thin style are just about the size of spaghetti with minimal difference. The thick and thicker style is round noodles that are sized thicker than thin. Prism, wide, and wider are flat thin noodles that provide a different texture. Additionally, a more novel type of noodle is Qiaomaileng (), in which the noodle is highlighted by its angular shape. Many restaurants across the globe include but are not limited to these seven types of noodle styles. This is because of the evolution of noodle making and the combination of the local culture. In mainland China, restaurants that specialize in Lanzhou beef noodle soup may provide customers to watch how the noodles are made, similar to the food production line layout of Din Tai Fung. The dough for hand-made noodle is normally made the day before being used, but the hand-made noodles are freshly pulled into shapes right before being cooked. The noodle pulling process is quick and can take up to several minutes, including repetitively rolling, pulling, and spinning. As soon as the noodle is shaped, it is placed in boiling water until fully cooked. == Gallery ==

File:Beef noodle soup at Western Mahua, Sanlihe (20220224174228).jpg File:Beef noodle soup in Erzhuzi thickness (20200102131419).jpg File:Lanzhou-style beef noodle soup at Qiaotou (20190610190359).jpg Beef noodle soup(Lanzhou).jpg File:Lanzhou La Mian.jpg|Without chili oil File:Lanzhou beef lamian (20150227145650).JPG|Thin noodles == References==