Top Ten Noodles You Must Try in China

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I love food, especially noodles. I always look for the special noodles when I visit a new place. My friends consider me a noodle expert. Today, I’m making a list of the top ten noodles I’ve ever had in China. I highly recommend them to you. It’s known that noodles are mostly consumed in northern China, where wheat crops are more suitable. However, noodles are not exclusive to northerners but the delicacy for all Chinese people. 


  • No.1: Lanzhou Lamian (Lanzhou Hand-pulled Noodles )

Lanzhou Lamian is the best noodles I’ve ever had. It’s characterized by plain soup, beefy aroma, and the long, thin noodles. There are five standards to judge if a bowl of Lanzhou Lamian is good, namely, plain soup, white radish, red capsicol, green coriander and garlic bolt, and yellow and oily noodles. The noodles are chewy, and the soup is tasty. It’s no wonder Lanzhou Lamian is regarded as the No.1 noodles in China.

Lanzhou Lamian


  • No.2: Biang Biang Noodles 

Biang Biang Noodles are my second favorite noodles. They are incredibly chewy, soft, hot, and tasty. The Chinese character of Biang doesn’t exist in any dictionary because it’s a human-made word dedicated to describing the sound when the Biang Biang Noodles are made. To make a bowl of Biang Biang Noodles, you need to stretch the flour dough into strips, thin as cicada's wings or thick as the coin. Then, prepare sauces with diced potatoes, green onions, diced carrots, chili powder, and chopped meat and fry them. Lastly, pour the hot oil on the noodles with sauces. 

Biang Biang Noodles


  • No.3: Beijing Zhajiang Noodles (Noodles with Soybean Paste)

Beijing Zhajiang Noodles are the best noodle in Beijing. It’s all about the soybean paste made of salted and sweet soybean paste, meat paste, carrot, garlic, cucumber, and green onions. The soybean paste of the authentic Beijing Zhajiang Noodles must have 13 ingredients and spices and be cooked over 2 hours. Therefore, the soybean paste is the key to Beijing Zhajiang Noodles.

Beijing Noodles With Soybean Paste


  • No.4: Wuhan Hot-dry Noodles

Hot-dry noodles to Wuhan are like the Great Wall to Beijing. It’s the most popular food in Wuhan. There are many ways to cook the Wuhan Hot-dry Noodles, and they all come down to the noodles. First, boil the noodles and then put them in water to cool off. Then, pour hot oils on the noodles before sprinkling the sesame paste, sesame oil, vinegar, capsicol, and other pickles. I didn’t fall in love with the noodles the first time when I tried them. I thought they were too greasy. However, after several times of trying, the noodles conquered me. I highly recommend it to you. 

Hot-dry Noodles


  • No.5: Shanxi Sliced Noodles

I’ve been to Datong and Pingyao several times, and my favorite food there is the Sliced Noodles. They are every bit the similar to regular noodles, except shaped like thick salix leaf. In old times, people make a flour dough and then slice it with a knife. Today, many restaurants use machines to cut the noodles. Many ingredients go with the sliced noodles like the meat sauce, vegetable sauce, mutton soup, chicken soup, scrambled egg with tomatoes, etc. I personally prefer the mixture sauce of meat sauce and scrambled eggs with tomatoes. 

Sliced Noodles


  • No.6: Sichuan Dandan Noodles

If you travel to Chengdu, make sure you have a bowl of Dandan Noodles. They are slim, chewy, fragrant, and slightly spicy. It's said that the porter named Chen Baobao invented the noodles. He used to carry the noodles on their shoulder poles and sell, thereby the name Dandan Noodles (noodles that carried on shoulder poles). 

Dandan Noodles


  • No.7: Yanji Cold Noodles

Yanji Cold Noodles are a traditional food for Chinese Korean people. They are mostly consumed in the Korean Peninsula and the neighboring areas of China. Unlike other noodles, the Yanji Cold Noodles are completely cold, even the soup! The primary ingredients of Yanji Cold Noodles are buckwheat, wheat, starch. Some people also use corn flour, sorghum flour, and potato starch. The boiled noodles must be cooled by water and then put into the cold beef soup. Lastly, the spicy cabbages, cucumber, boiled egg, chopped green onion, sesame, and pine nuts are added to the noodles. 

Yanji Cold Noodles


  • No.8: Henan Stewed Noodles

Henan Stewed Noodles are one of the three most famous food in Henan. They are a combination of noodles, meat, vegetables, and soup, very nutritious and delicious. They are made of high-gluten flour. First, create a flour dough and knead it repeatedly until it's soft and tenacious. Next, cover the flour dough with plastic wrap for a while. Then, roll the dough and make small strips out of it. Oil the strips and cover them with plastic wrap again. Now, prepare the soup. Unlike any other soups, the soup for the Stewed Noodles must be made of mutton, mutton bones, and several kinds of Chinese herbs and boiled for over 5 hours. Other ingredients like shredded kelp, tofu, vermicelli, coriander, quail eggs, and chili oil are added to the soup. Finally, boil the noodle strips in the soup. A bowl of hot Henan Stewed Noodles is made! 

Stewed Noodles



  • No.9: Pianerchuan

Pianerchuan is a traditional dish in Hangzhou city, Zhejiang. It's composed of potherb mustard, bamboo shoots, and lean peat slices. The characteristics of the noodles lie in the freshness of the potherb mustard and the bamboo shoots. The earliest Pianermian was invented in Kuiyuan Restaurant in Hangzhou, which still exists nowadays. Therefore, you can have a try in this restaurant the next time you visit Hangzhou. 

Pianerchuan


  • No.10: Zhenjiang Pot Noodles

Zhenjiang Pot Noodles are regarded as the No.1 noodles in southern China. The most striking thing about the Pot Noodles is how the noodles are made. The flour dough is put on the chopping board, and a bamboo pole is used to squeeze the dough. One end of the bamboo pole is fixed on the chopping board, and on the other side is a person to swing up and down so that the dough will be squeezed into thin noodles. It’s quite fun to watch. Then, slice the noodles and boil them in the soy sauce. 

Zhenjiang Pot Noodles


Here are just the top ten noodles. I like the most in China. I strongly suggest you try some of them on your next trip to China. If you have other noodles to recommend, please leave a comment!


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