[theme music playing]
BEEF NOODLES
LANZHOU, GANSU
[narrator] The sun hasn’t risen yet.
One sound can be heard in every cornerof the city.
[man] Time to make the dough.
[instrumental music playing]
[narrator] Thousands of back kitchensare brightly lit,
making and kneading dough.
In the end, shiny doughs are produced.
Lanzhou: The capital of Gansu province.
It has a population of over 3.7 million.
To the locals here, each morningstarts with a bowl of beef noodles.
[crowd murmurs]
[man] One thin noodles,two hair-thin noodles.
[woman] I received 20 yuanfrom WeChat Pay.
[narrator] This is the morning rhythmof the people in Lanzhou.
pindistinct Mandarin]
-[man] Table three, dine in.-Two thin noodles.
[narrator] Methodical and swift.
Pulled by hand.
From pulling the noodles to serving them,it takes less than half a minute.
The noodles are yellowish and shiny.
The soup is clear.
Add chili oil…
…and the bowl of fresh beef noodlesis ready.
LANZHOU BEEF NOODLES
In Lanzhou, a slight changein the price of beef noodles
would cause a stir among everyone.
Each day, over two million beef noodlesare being consumed,
and 400,000 kilograms of flourare being used.
Lanzhou. Upstream from the Yellow River.
It has sufficient sunlightand light rainfall.
Its special sandy fieldsbreed a unique kind of wheat.
The wheat grains are plump.
They’re high in protein,making the noodle dough firmer,
and creating infinite possibilitiesfor noodles.
Cut them into small pieces
or make them looklike little shrapnels by hand.
The people in Gansu can always tastesomething interesting
based on the slight differencesbetween the shapes of noodles.
FIRE CRACKER NOODLES
Continually pull them,they have extreme elasticity.
Its texture is smooth and chewy.
Lightly press them with your palmto form a fish-like shape.
Pair it with different ingredientsto form cuoyumian.
Regardless of its flavors or colors,
when it’s combinedwith vegetables and meat,
it makes them look richer.
CUOYUMIAN
However, all these fancy noodlescan’t compare with beef noodles.
ZHAO XINMIN
Add an appropriate amount of potassium carbonate dissolved in water.
The salt and alkali in itwill stimulate the protein inside.
The dough will havea slightly yellowish color.
Knead it repeatedly,
and the dough will slowly reachits ideal elasticity and springiness.
In the hands of the ramen chef,the nice dough quickly transforms.
Control the amount of forceand pull it nine times.
The dough becomes 256 stripsof noodles with even thickness.
This is the thinnest sizefor Lanzhou beef noodles.
It’s only 0.3 millimeters in diameter.
Being able to pull them all from one doughsignifies that the dough passes the mark.
The same doughcan quickly take different forms.
Flat and thick.
From the width of two fingersto something as thin as leeks.
From a cylindrical shape,
noodles with no less than 5 typesof thickness are produced.
A triangular shape looks the most 3Damong them.
Its cross section looks like a triangleand has a unique texture when eaten.
[band playing fades in]
LIU KUN, SINGER OF THE LOW ABSINTHE BAND
DOU TAO, DRUMMER
Lanzhou: An important food townin the northwest.
All kinds of snacks can be found on itsstreets.
Even for food as common as noodles,
the people here never stoppedexploring its flavor.
[man singing in Mandarin]
Wang Hongfei. He has been makingbeef noodles for over 30 years.
If making ramen requires technique,then making the soup requires patience.
After slow-cooking for almost five hours,the beef fibers loosen,
and its flavor goes into the soup,emitting a rich aroma.
To the picky Lanzhou eaters,soup is the soul of beef noodles.
Many chefs are trying different seasoning ingredients
to achieve slight changesto the soup base’s taste.
Wang Hongfei is not an exception.
Today, he chosetwo uncommon side ingredients.
At an inland cityalmost 2,000 kilometers from the ocean,
Wang Hongfei uses shrimp shellsand shrimp paste
to begin his experiment.
Crushed shrimp shellsrelease a lot of inosinic acids.
The fermented shrimp paste also releases a fresh flavor,
laying the foundation for the soup base’s color.
Lastly, add white sugar.
A variety of complex aromasare magnified at this moment
and burst out together.
After cooking it for 30 minutes,the seasoning soup is done.
Add the traditional beef soup,
and a new combinationcreates an unexpected flavor.
At this point, it needs to becarefully filtered three times
in order to remove impurities,
and get a clear and fresh soup base.
[man] Two thin noodles.
[narrator] We need the guests
to check whether they likethe new experimental soup base or not.
Lanzhou noodles are the most common typeof noodles in China nowadays.
In its hometown,people define it as the taste of home.
Chefs who strive for excellenceusing picky taste buds
let this bowl of noodles that was producedby accident 100 years ago last forever.
Early in the morning each day,people would go to the side of the streets
and lovingly call it niuda.
[instrumental music fades out]
[end theme playing]