Lard-Tossed Rice Noodles 猪油拌粉

Lard-Tossed Rice Noodles (猪油拌粉) are a traditional snack of Changsha (长沙), Hunan: rice noodles boiled briefly and tossed with lard and seasonings such as soy sauce and chopped spring onion. Changsha Evening News (长沙晚报) names Wenmiaoping (文庙坪), an old lane that is now a food street, as the source of the best-known version.

How it is made

People's Daily Online (人民网) describes one well-known maker, Xiao Ke (肖珂) of Xiao Pangzi (肖胖子), who uses wide rice noodles cut by hand, paying attention to how moist and how thick they are, and renders his own lard from pork fat. His noodles are cut into thin, short oblong pieces and boiled for a short time. Meanwhile the seasonings are mixed in large iron basins: New Hunan (新湖南) lists sesame oil, dried radish, chilli powder, chopped spring onion and ground peanuts, and Xiao Ke also adds coriander.

Flavour and texture

A New Hunan reviewer praises one bowl for the smell of newly rendered lard and a well-judged proportion of soy sauce, with pliant noodles that are hot, soft, savoury and fragrant. At Xiao Pangzi the wide, short pieces are smooth and springy, a little like liangpi (凉皮) cold noodles, with the scent of lard, spring onion and the braising pot rising together.

How it is eaten

Regulars at Xiao Pangzi order a bowl with a braised egg and a braised chicken foot on the side. In the Wenmiaoping lanes, the long-running Maotuozi (毛坨子) shop serves it alongside sweet-crisp spare ribs and sweet-and-sour lotus root.