Speaking of Qianzhou Four Treasures , the first thing that may come to everyone's mind is Qianxian noodles, also known as sour soup noodles and sour soup noodles. Qianxian noodles are famous for their thin and white appearance and light texture when eaten. In Qinjiazhuang, Qinyuan Village, Chengguan Street, Qianxian County, hundreds of years of Qianxian handmade noodles production techniques have been passed down here. The purely handmade noodles have made Qianxian noodles familiar to more people.
Mix, break, rub, top, open, dry and cut, 7-step method for making dried noodles by hand
On December 27, 2022, Huashang Daily reporter came to Yin Zhanguo, who makes handmade noodles in Qinjiazhuang, Qinyuan Village, Chengguan Street, Qianxian County. He was standing on a high platform and hanging the cooked noodles stick by stick on the rack in the courtyard, preparing to dry the noodles. After Yin Zhanguo hung the coiled and awakened noodles, his wife stretched the noodles below. While stretching, he also used the long stick in his hand to spread the noodles to avoid adhesion. Soon, the stick noodle was hung and stretched to a length of nearly 4 meters, with the bottom pressed down by a pressure plate. The dried noodles are swaying in the breeze, and the soft sunlight shines on the noodles as thin as hair, like dancing figures, and the scene is very beautiful.
"When drying the noodles, you need to spread the hanging noodles with sticks, and then the people stretching below must have a high degree of tacit understanding to cooperate with the stretching. Too much force will easily break the noodles. If the force is too small, the stretched noodles will be slim and thick, so there is still a certain skill in each step of production." Yin Zhanguo told reporters while hanging the noodles.
It is reported that the production process of Qianxian noodles is purely handmade, and the flour required is made from locally produced high-quality wheat with thin skin, full noodles, and gluten. The entire process of making noodles requires 7 steps. From flour to finished noodles, the entire process takes at least 24 hours to complete.
According to Yin Zhanguo, when they make noodles every day, they need to add carefully selected flour with specific salt and put it into a basin to knead the dough. After the flour is mixed into a dough, it is put into the basin to rest. "When kneading dough, we pay attention to the 'three lights', that is, the periphery of the basin should be light, and no flour should be left; secondly, hand light, after kneading the dough, the dough should not stick to the hands; and finally, the dough should be smooth, and the surface of the mixed dough should be smooth." Yin Zhanguo said, put the mixed dough in the basin to wake up for half an hour, and then the second step is to break into large strips.
The so-called "breaking the big strips" is to knead the reconciled noodles repeatedly by hand, place the noodles on the chopping board and knead them into long, snake-like thick strips, then put them in a basin and plate them up to continue to rest. This time it takes more than 4 hours to rest.
After the time is up, the third step begins - rubbing the strips. Take out the noodles that have risen in the basin again, and knead them repeatedly by hand until the thick noodles are rolled into small strips as thick as your finger, and then put them into the basin again to rest.
"This kneading process requires certain skills, and the hand strength must be even and strong, so that a 'hollow' will be formed in the noodles that are kneaded into small strips." Yin Zhanguo said that after completing the kneading of small strips, you still need to continue to put the noodles into a basin to rest, and this time it takes more than 5 hours to rest. "Every time after the noodles are awakened, they are kneaded repeatedly to make the noodles stronger so that they can be stretched out in the subsequent steps and ."
After the noodles are awakened, the fourth step is the above. As the name suggests, noodles rolled into small strips are wrapped around a stick. "A stick is basically wound about 240 times, a total of 480 noodles. Wrap the noodles around the upper and lower sticks, with a distance of about 20 centimeters." Yin Zhanguo said that after the dough is ready this time, it needs to be moved to the noodle tank and rested for about 4 hours.
The fifth step - opening the interview. Take out the noodles that have risen in the noodle trough, hang one end on a shelf on the wall, and pull the other end down with even force. After pulling the 20 cm long noodles to about 1.5 meters long, you need to put it back into the noodle trough to complete the resting process.
After finishing the 3 hours of waking up, the next step is the sixth step - drying out the noodles. One person stood on the shelf in the courtyard, and the other took the noodles out of the noodle trough, hung them on the shelf in the courtyard, stretched the noodles to nearly 4 meters long, and then dried them in the courtyard. At this time, the noodles have formed a shape as thin as hair."It needs breeze to dry, mainly air drying. The noodles will become whiter after drying."
After drying for 4 hours, the dried noodles also ushered in the last step - cutting. The dried noodles are placed on a chopping board, cut into eight-inch lengths, bundled into small handfuls and packed into boxes.
The fourth-generation family noodle inheritor made his fortune by making noodles.
"The entire process of making noodles is entirely manual, especially every time you move the noodles, you need to knead the noodles repeatedly to wake them up. Only when the noodles are kneaded and risen in place can the noodles become firm and the noodles will not break when they are dried." Yin Zhanguo said.
According to Yin Zhanguo, the reason why he is engaged in making noodles is because in his family, he is already the fourth generation inheritor of making noodles. It was first made by his grandfather and later passed down to his generation.
"When I came back from the army, I wanted to find a craft. My family said that making noodles is also a craft. Not only will you not go hungry, but you can also support the family." Yin Zhanguo said that he "took over" making noodles since he was discharged from the army at the age of 22, and he has been doing it for 23 years. Now 45 years old, his family has made a fortune by making noodles. Supported two students and took care of the family at the same time. "It's better than going out to work. I can make money by making noodles, and I can also take care of my family. Now I'm still willing to pass on my skills to young people."
The village will set up a cooperative to develop the noodle industry and make the Qianzhou noodle brand bigger and stronger.
A reporter from the Huashang Daily learned from Wang Dangfeng, secretary and director of the Qinyuan Village Party branch in Chengguan Street, Qianxian County, that the production of handmade noodles in Qinyuan Village has a history of a hundred years. Currently, more than 150 households in the village are making noodles. Because Qianxian noodles are purely handmade, a business model based on individual households has been formed.
"Each household makes about 130 kilograms of dried noodles every day, and the annual output can reach more than 10,000 kilograms to about 20,000 kilograms. The annual output value of each household can reach more than 200,000 yuan at most." Wang Dangfeng said that in the next step, their village plans to establish a cooperative to develop the collective economy and industrialize the handmade noodles. The village cooperative will do a good job in marketing, build a good brand of Qianzhou handmade noodles, and make the village's dried noodles industry bigger and stronger.
Qianzhou Sour Soup Noodles pay attention to Wang (more oil), fried (hot soup), thin (less noodles), the soup is clear and fragrant, the mouth is oily but not greasy, and the stomach is soothing and appetizing. In Qianxian County, every household eats sour soup noodles during the Chinese New Year and festivals. It is a common "New Year meal" and the first choice for "hospitality meals". Nowadays, Qianxian sour soup noodles are not only in Qianxian County, but also have become the best gift for people in Guanzhong area to entertain distinguished guests and give gifts to relatives and friends.
The legend about Qian County sour soup noodles is also related to Qianling. It is said that during the construction of Qianling Mausoleum, soldiers and migrant workers worked hard day and night regardless of the scorching heat and cold. In order to enable them to eat noodles, the local people put the rolled and thin noodles on bamboo poles to dry, cut off the bundles, and sent them to the construction site along with the prepared sour soup, so that the soldiers and migrant workers could cook them in a pot and eat them in the sour soup after work. , not only can satisfy hunger, but also quench fatigue and thirst. It is indeed the best comfort food. Later, some people changed the sun-dried noodles to hand-made noodles, and added "floating vegetables" made from egg pancakes, , young leeks, and chopped cabbage hearts into the sour soup. This became the Qianxian sour soup noodles that are now widely circulated among the people and at banquets.
Huashang Daily reporter Jia Fan editor Zhu Guomin
