Chilli Oil Noodles 红油小面

How it is made

Fang Ma Noodle House (方妈面馆) on Fusui Road (福绥路) in Xiling District (西陵区) began in 1982 as a street stall with two stoves and two woks. Its bowl of the 1980s was a little lard, a spoon of chilli, a spoon of white broth and two liang (about 100 grams) of noodles. The shop's noodles are made to order about half as thick as ordinary ones, so they soak up flavour and hold the broth while keeping their chew.

Yichang noodles are spread loosely into the pot and float up after about a minute, which is the moment to lift them out; for this they are called 'floating noodles' (漂水面). Cooks drop a dozen or more bowls at once, and a slow hand leaves the last noodles soft. Fang Ma's broth is made from fresh beef bones, simmered from five in the morning, with some old stock kept back and topped up with new; its numbing heat comes from 21 spices, among them Sichuan pepper and chilli.

Flavour and texture

A bowl comes out glossy red and steaming, smelling salty, savoury and hot, with a full, solid flavour and a heat that lingers. A Hubei Daily food guide to Xiling District says the noodles at Wenchouxiang (闻丑香), its first breakfast stop, are very smooth, and that their salty savour comes through gradually without becoming heavier as you eat.

How it is eaten

Chilli Oil Noodles are a breakfast dish, part of the early-morning meal Yichang people call guozao (过早). The plain bowl can be dressed with toppings: once living standards rose, Fang Ma's customers began adding a few pieces of beef, a spoon of pork intestines or an egg.