Have You Ever Seen These Noodles?

Okay – yes, my postings have been getting increasingly sporadic! There are many forces pulling at us right now and I still have at least 9 postings more to go. We leave shortly and it’s all too much! I’m glad to be heading back to the States but sad to leave this experience. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

I went to Chinatown today (for the third time?) to get last minute gifts. I can’t wait to post about what I have learned about Singapore’s Chinatown or better known as “Water Cart.” Another posting for later!

One of the things I thoroughly enjoy about Singapore is the access to different arts that have been maintained for, sometimes, centuries! One tradition is the art of “pulling noodles.” Today, I took advantage of going to Lan Zhou La Mian for the second time. The tradition lives on with Mr. Wong – see the video below!

Paul and I saw a documentary about the ancient art of pulling and throwing noodles on NewAsia and were excited to see that there was a Chinese man here practicing the art. As you can see from the photos below, Mr. Wong is quite the celebrity and all of the photos on the wall are of him and his customers together holding the Lamian Noodles.
I researched the Lamian Noodles further and found out that the recipe has Gaoxiaolamianji powder to give elasticity to the noodles thus creating the strands. Wu Zhang Qiu, a master at noodle pulling related this story: “….The recipe was forgotten until 600 years ago when several regions in the north-west of China were struck by poverty, and the natives could no longer afford to buy readymade noodles. Today, the people of the north-western province of Xinjiang still make their noodles at home” (Business Today, Oct. 18, 2008).