Huojia Pressed Wheat Noodles 获嘉饸饹条
Huojia Pressed Wheat Noodles is featured among the local specialties of Henan.
Huojia Pressed Wheat Noodles (获嘉饸饹条) are hele (饸饹) noodles from Huojia County (获嘉县) in Xinxiang (新乡), Henan: an alkaline wheat dough pressed straight into boiling stock and topped with minced beef.
How it is made
Wheat flour and food-grade alkali (食用碱) are mixed in proportion and kneaded into a yellow dough. A traditional hele press (饸饹床), a wooden press that squeezes dough through holes in its base, forces the dough directly into a pot of boiling stock, so the strands are shaped and cooked in one movement. The bowl is then finished with a minced-beef topping (牛肉臊子) and a scattering of green garlic shoots (青蒜苗).
Where it comes from
Xinxiang Daily (新乡日报) counts hele among the three great noodle foods of northern China and notes that only the people of Huojia call it tiao (条, "strips"). The paper places the noodle, together with Niu Zhongxi baked flatbread (牛忠喜烧饼), among the flavours woven into everyday eating in Xinxiang.
It describes the finished bowl as hot, spicy, fresh and fragrant, and says the local verdict on it is the Xinxiang dialect phrase "得儿嘞很", a strong expression of approval roughly meaning "really great".
More dishes to compare
Explore related local specialties and compare their names, preparation notes and ordering guidance.
Jiaxian Pressed Noodles in Mutton Broth 郏县饸饹面 →
Another Henan pressed hele noodle: the Jiaxian bowl in Pingdingshan uses buckwheat with wheat flour and a mutton base, where Huojia's is an alkaline wheat dough topped with minced beef.
Sources & reading
Written from the linked sources and fact-checked against them on 2026-09-24. Recipes and servings vary between kitchens.