Guoyang Dry-Tossed Noodles 涡阳干扣面

How it is made

The name describes the bowl. Gan (干, "dry") refers to the boiled noodles being drained, and kou (扣, "turned over") to the way the bowl is built: minced garlic, chopped spring onion, blanched bean sprouts and other seasonings go into the bottom first, and the noodles are tipped upside down on top of them. The writer Li Danya (李丹崖), who has written many food essays, explains the reversal: elsewhere toppings sit on the noodles, but in Guoyang the diner is meant to see that the noodles are genuine and the portion is full.

In the original method the cook kneads and slaps the dough on the board, rolls it into a thin sheet, winds the sheet in layers around the rolling pin, unrolls and stacks it, and cuts noodles of even thickness; today more and more of them are cut by machine. A shop keeps two large pots on the boil, one for the noodles and one just for blanching the bean sprouts. The alkaline noodles are lifted out after rising and sinking three times and served in a big coarse china bowl.

Guo Chuanfeng (郭传峰), a Guoyang noodle maker, puts the quality down to a moderate chew: too firm and the noodles turn dry and stringy, too soft and they go mushy. That in turn depends on how the dough is mixed, since a stiff dough snaps and a slack one clumps.

How it is eaten

The chilli oil is not added in the kitchen. A basin of thick red chilli oil stands on the counter and each diner pours on as much as they want; a 2026 Anhui Daily (安徽日报) report calls it the soul of the bowl. Diners then stir the noodles through the sprouts and seasonings below, sometimes peeling a head of raw garlic to eat alongside, and fried eggs can be ordered with the bowl.

Where it comes from

No one agrees on when the dish began. By the Guangming Daily's 2025 count Guoyang County alone had 560 dry-tossed noodle shops spread across its towns, and shops have opened in most cities in China, travelling with the other Anhui noodle, Taihe broad noodles (太和板面). In 2026 the county held its second dry-tossed noodle intangible-heritage skills show, presenting the noodle-making craft as heritage and streaming it online.

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