Dumbo in the Kitchen - #13: Lanzhou-style Noodle

Some years ago, we had the honor of acquainting a couple from Lanzhou, China, who came to Malaysia because of the husband's engagement to teach at a local university, and on that occasion, they made noodle as a treat for all of us.

According to them, people there - and generally, people in Northern China - do not eat any of the instant noodles that we are so accustomed to. When they want to eat noodle, they simply make it from scratch - flour, water, and a pinch of salt.

And if you believe them, even little children there know how to make la-mian. :-)

You may choose to not believe that even little children know how to "pull" noodles out of a lump of dough, but you must believe this: that hand-made noodles are the real noodles. Machine-made noodles - especially instant noodles - simple taste fake after you have tasting hand-made noodles. The smoothness, the pureness of the taste -- man, you've got to try it yourself.

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Another characteristic of the Lanzhou noodle is the simplicity of the soup. According to our friends from Lanzhou, they do not use a lot of artificial condiments. They use salt, and the natural tastes of certain herbs and vegetables and fruits to give flavors to the soup. What they prepared during that occasion - as far as I remember - involved only beef, celery, tomato, and salt.

In my version below, I used minced pork, tomato, celery, and a little additional seasoning in the form of onion, and of course, salt (or soy sauce).


As for the noodle, I wasn't skilled enough in "pulling noodle", so I "pinched" the dough into small pieces and boil them to a springy consistency (el dente).


For the soup:

1) Heat some oil in the wok, stir in chopped onion and some celery stalks (the smaller branches on top), fry till fragrant;

2) Put in the minced meat (which, in my case, was marinated with some soy sauce, and added with a bit of tapioca starch so that you can form the minced meat into small lumps like meatballs);

3) Add water, bring to simmer;

4) Finally, add in the sliced tomatoes and celery, cook for a few minutes (but not too long, lest the vegetables turn mushy; just long enough for the flavor of the tomatoes and celery to be released into the soup), and season with salt.


Put cooked noodles in bowls...


Pour in the soup (with the meat lumps and tomatoes and celery, of course), and serve hot.


A very appetizing dish, with the fragrance of the celery, the refreshing sourness of the tomatoes, and the sweetness of the minced meat.

And more importantly, it is a very healthy and nutritionally-balanced dish. :-)