a bowl of knife-cut noodles was cyberbullied, and all shanxi people couldn't sit still

a bowl of knife-cut noodles was criticized online, and all shanxi people can't sit still

2024-09-07

shanxi, i've been a bit busy lately.

just as the filming location for the movie "black myth: wukong" was opened, the ancient building shocked the world and brought tourism to shanxi.

now, because of a bowl of noodles, it has become a hot topic again——

three tourists wanted to try the more authentic shanxi knife-cut noodles and found a noodle shop next to the mining area.

but when dining there, i discovered a "yin-yang menu". the same dish for local diners only cost 7 yuan (6 yuan for a small bowl of noodles and 1 yuan for an egg), but i was charged 11 yuan (noodles with eggs and tofu, a total of 33 yuan for three people).

image source: weibo @china news weekly

the tourists immediately questioned the store owner, who said that his waiter had miscalculated the bill and refunded the extra money to them.

later, the tourists posted the video online, and the yungang district market management bureau of datong city, shanxi province, which received the complaint, immediately responded:the noodle shop was suspended for rectification and an investigation was launched.

image source: weibo@dahe newspaper

the matter could have ended there, and the noodle shop has now reopened, with a clearly marked price of 7 yuan per bowl.

but the discussions among netizens are one after another.

why does a bowl of noodles spark such a big discussion?

because noodles are very important to shanxi, where noodle shops are everywhere.

image source: weibo @向阳视频

"what do people in jincheng eat for lunch?"

many people may have come across the popular joke @山西四人行.

after the incident, many shanxi ip netizens, including @山西四人行, have "refuted rumors" about the store's behavior.

they said that this was not a rip-off, but a gesture of friendship.

image source: tiktok

the mining area in shanxi is different from the scenic area. there is an unwritten rule here:

the price is 4 times cheaper than outside.

in the past, it was 4 cents or 40 cents less, but now it is 4 yuan less.

"it is nothing more than a simple wish from the people above the well to the people below the well, to reduce the number of deaths."

among the four people from shanxi, two had worked in mines before. based on their own experiences, they revealed this warm "rule" of shanxi.

image source: douyin @shanxi four people

the face price is 7 yuan to ensure supply for the miners.

the 11 yuan price is to make a living and keep the noodle shop running. many diners who claim to have eaten here mentioned that ordinary citizens, except for miners, also pay 11 yuan to eat in the shop.

many people from other provinces also think that 11 yuan is not expensive for a bowl of noodles with egg, dried tofu, and meat sauce.

because a bowl of noodles in the scenic area costs at least 15 yuan, most people would not choose to go to the mining area specifically to eat noodles.

image source: tiktok

in the words of support from netizens, many people found that the 7 yuan price given to the miners by this store actually has a deeper meaning -

because of the "ups and downs", the miners who go down the mine must "come up".

the face price of 7 yuan given to miners cannot be increased.

but some people may ask, there are so many delicacies and daily necessities that can be chosen to offer discounts to miners, why should we be so fussy about a bowl of noodles?

because this bowl of noodles is very important to shanxi people, their life cannot be separated from noodles.

walking around shanxi street, you can see several noodle shops every 100 meters.

therefore, only when the face value is discounted can everyone get real benefits.

image source: visual china

shanxi, a province that loves noodles, is known as the "root of noodles in the world" and has a long history of eating noodles.

the "roots" of this bowl of shanxi noodles come from the land of shanxi with its towering mountains and numerous ravines.

mountains and hills account for 80% of the geographical environment, and most areas are above 1,500 meters above sea level, resulting in very little arable land and plains.

at the same time, the mountainous plateau covered with loess makes shanxi the watershed between the yellow river and the haihe river. it connects the east and the west, has little water, is prone to drought, and has insufficient water resources.

coupled with the temperate continental monsoon climate and low temperatures, crops such as rice and vegetables lack the natural conditions to grow here.

image source: visual china

the ancestors of the shanxi region found a new way to fill their stomachs: growing wheat.

the middle reaches of the yellow river are china's main wheat producing area, and various types of pasta made from wheat have also nurtured chinese civilization in the yellow river basin.

but in the high-altitude mountainous areas of shanxi, wheat cultivation has also become a problem.

the wise ancestors of shanxi also tried to grow coarse grain crops such as millet, sorghum, barley, buckwheat, and found that they were very rewarding.

image source: visual china

when whole grains such as sorghum flour, bean flour, buckwheat flour, oat flour, etc. are combined with wheat flour in corresponding proportions, a variety of pasta dishes are naturally formed:

sliced noodles, ramen, goubei noodles, tuiwowo, sausage...

the harsh geographical conditions forced the ancestors of shanxi to develop the habit of eating noodles.

but this not only filled the stomachs of their descendants, but also earned shanxi the reputation of "look to china for world cuisine, and look to shanxi for chinese noodles."

image source: visual china

especially after shanxi was discovered to be a major coal-producing province, the miners needed warm carbohydrates to fill their stomachs, so that they would have the strength to work, and also to meet the endless demand for coal from all over the country.

although shanxi noodles have a history of more than 2,000 years and there are hundreds of varieties of noodles, questions such as "why shanxi has not been able to develop a national noodle brand" are often raised by the media.

purely handmade, difficult to replicate, with thousands of different flavors for each person, and the craftsmanship is more important than the noodles themselves... these difficulties have confined shanxi noodles to the three jins region, making it difficult to go beyond them.

data source: restaurant boss insider

in addition to the brand, the reputation of shanxi noodles in the public eye seems to be a little humble.

when it comes to noodles, most people are familiar with lanzhou ramen (beef noodles), anhui flat noodles, shaanxi biang biang noodles, etc., but rarely mention shanxi knife-cut noodles.

this has also led to a dilemma. shanxi people who order noodles from so-called "shanxi noodle shops" outside find that many of the varieties are even "grafted" from more famous noodles.

xinjiang's fried pork noodles, shaanxi's oil-splashed noodles, anhui's flat noodles...

the sales volume of shanxi sliced noodles is not even one-third of that of shanxi fried pork noodles.

image source: tiktok

obviously, shanxi knife-cut noodles are greatly underestimated.

because of the yin-yang noodle house incident, many people only realized the value of this bowl of knife-cut noodles after netizens continued to educate and swipe their screens.

in shanxi, people simply call it "knife-cut noodles".

more than 100 cuts can be made per minute, and the noodles are like whitebait, jumping into the soup pot together.

these noodles are of uniform thickness and length, thick in the middle and thin on the edges, and shaped like willow leaves. they are usually eaten with various kinds of臊子.

in addition to soup, it can also be fried. different counties and districts in shanxi have different flavors.

image source: visual china

soon after, netizens who understood the sentiment of shanxi knife-cut noodles also set off a craze for making knife-cut noodles across the internet.

“the knife never leaves the noodles, and the noodles never leave the knife.” someone posted a photo of a noodle knife that he had used for decades.

image source: douyin @娜酱

some people don't know how to make knife-cut noodles, but try to make dried noodles, instant noodles, etc.

image source: baibit (returning to china to farm)

the craze for knife-cut noodles has even spread to paris, france, and is sold all over the world...

image source: tiktok

the funniest thing is that netizens also started making jokes in the comment section.

netizens with shanxi ip addresses, each with an emoji pack of "cutting noodles", line up to cut noodles for netizens across the country.

image source: tiktok

netizens with ip addresses from other regions are also busy and having fun -

some were waiting with basins in hand, some kept raising their own dietary restrictions, and some were worried about the people of shanxi and even "worked overtime" overnight to help cut noodles using emoticons.

it can be said that during this period, people all over the country learned how to cut noodles.

image source: tiktok

the popularity of shanxi knife-cut noodles has made many people exclaim: this bowl of noodles has finally been seen!

in fact, there are many more noodles in shanxi that deserve to be seen. as mentioned above, shanxi noodles are varied.

image source: visual china

for example, shanxi’s famous “four major noodles” include, in addition to knife-cut noodles, one-single-string noodles, knife-plucked noodles and chopped noodles.

a piece of noodle,as the name suggests, it is a long, continuous noodle. so it is often called longevity noodles. a piece of dough is rolled back and forth between the fingers and finally becomes a very long noodle.

knife-cut noodlessimilar to knife-cut noodles, it also needs to be made with a knife, but it is done with a special noodle cutter. the noodles are long and thin and have a soft texture.

pickspecial tools are also needed. each noodle made has a pointed tip and is paired with the臊子 soup, which is refreshing and tasty.

image source: visual china

in fact, from this perspective, we can find that compared to "eating noodles", shanxi people are more like using their personal preferences to "vote" for different noodle-making techniques.

there are hundreds or even thousands of types of pasta in shanxi.

after being processed by different professional tools, the noodles are transformed into different forms, with the taste changing from soft to hard, and the texture changing from smooth to glutinous.

of course, what is more important is the people behind the tools.

image source: visual china

if you ask around in any noodle shop in shanxi, you'll find that it takes years or even decades for a ramen chef to become a master. it's not the kind of thing that takes just a few days or months to become a master.

three awakenings, three softenings, and three pullings, each handmade noodle-making process is like a cooking experiment that lasts several hours.

even if the master and the apprentice use the same tools, the finished products they make are very different.

perhaps because of the strong "soul of jin noodles", the venue for the china intangible cultural heritage noodle conference was chosen to be taiyuan, shanxi, and it is currently being held in full swing.

from the promotional video of "china's intangible cultural heritage noodle conference" produced by shanxi culture and tourism, one can't help but exclaim "high-end" after watching it.

image source: douyin@shanxi culture and tourism

noodle chefs gathered in taiyuan to compete in noodle making using noodles for performances (not edible noodles)——

some tests one's knife skills and require one to cut noodles while shooting basketballs with noodles;