A bite of Xi’an

‘If you want to know about the 50 years history of China,you can go to Shanghai.For 500 years history of China,you can go to Beijing.For 5000 year history of China,you can go to Xi’an.’

In China,Xi’an is an ancient capital of Shaanxi province with a long history. The delicious food of Xi’an is not only popular, but also has its unique food culture in history.On Tiktok,a series of short videos about food in Xi’an have received award from all over the world.

Lei Xv,the owner of Authentic Xi’an street food ,has been a chef in England for over 10 years.Among various cuisines from different areas,he like Chinese cuisine best.Xi’an is the hometown of Xv,which influenced him from an early age.‘When I was young, I liked eating noodles.I would like to push Chinese noodles to the world,this is also the reason why he opened this restaurant in Newcastle.’Xv recalled.

The Authentic Xi’an street food in Newcastle is located in Grainger Market.It has obtained a number of devoted customers since it open,many students return there for a meal several times within a week.A customer from London,travel to Newcastle monthly just for a meal there,who has become a good friend of Xv.

Roujiamo is a must in ordering.It is considered the Chinese equivalent to the Western hamburger and meat sandwiches.The meat is minced or chopped and stuffed in ’baijimo‘, a type of flatbread. An authentic baijimo is made from a wheat flour dough with yeast and then baked in a clay oven, but now in many parts of China, baijimo is made in a frying pan, giving a taste that diverges significantly from the authentic clay oven-baked version.The meat is most commonly pork, stewed for hours in a soup containing over 20 spices and seasonings. Although it is possible to use only a few spices, the resulting meat is less flavourful.

Some alternatives of Roujiamo are also available. For example, in Muslim areas in Xi’an, the meat is usually beef (seasoned with cumin and pepper), Depending on the types of spices used to cook the meat and the way the bread is made, the taste of roujiamo can vary greatly from vendor to vendor.

Another typical food in Xi’an is ‘biangbiang noodles’. If you never tasted it or have little background information, the name might be weird to you。‘Biang’actually is an onomatopoeia word describing the sound when the noodles smashing against the board (especially when smashing against stainless steel board).The word Biang is considered as the most complicated Chinese character. People even draw up a pithy formula in order to write it correctly. You may find another wider hand ripped noodles,belt noodles (known as KuDai mian in Chinese). That particular word is trying to describe the appearance. So the name for Chinese dish are quite interesting right?

I’m looking forward to your comments !

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