Suzhou, the morning after the Typhoon
Small cafe across from our hotel
One of my most tasty noodle dishes was having fresh rice noodles with vegetables at a small local cafe in Suzhou.
This small local place was situated across the street from our hotel where we were spending the night. After spending the day exploring Suzhou by braving the Typhoon we were chilled to the bone and didn’t want to venture too far for dinner. With the Typhoon still raging outside we found dry refuge inside this little cosy noodle cafe.
We were not expecting much as the dishes were priced quite cheap and were pleasantly surprised when our noodles were made right in front of us. The guy worked with so much skill and made the rice noodles all by hand, not once did he use a pasta roller or cutter.
Our vegetables were just as fresh as we could actually watch them being washed and then prepared for us.
Noodles are an essential ingredient and staple in Chinese cuisine. There is a great variety of Chinese noodles, which vary according to their region of production, ingredients, shape or width, and manner of preparation. These wheat noodles are made with eggs, which adds flavour, colour, and body. They are actually called ‘pulled noodles’ of LanZhou. They are made by stretching and folding the dough into strands. However, the twisting and subsequent stretching of the strips of dough happens due to the weight of the dough. Depending on the number of times the dough gets folded, the strands can be made in various lengths and thicknesses.
Mom enjoying our fresh noodles and vegetable breakfast
We returned for another bowl of fresh noodles the next morning for breakfast. The weather had cleared up a bit by then so I could actually take some photos. This was definitely one of the top ten dishes we had while exploring China on our China Odyssey tour.
29 Responses to Super fresh handmade pasta in Suzhou, China
Oh I absolutely loved pulled noodles!!! its one of the dishes I miss the most from China!!
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I’m ashamed of myself – I lived in China for a year and haven’t seen half the things you have! I do love watching these guys spin the noodles though – looks so effortless and then suddenly there’s a ball of perfectly strung noodles…who knows how they do it…
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I agree, it looks like magic!! I hope you get to explore more of the amazing things China has to offer before you leave
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your mom’s dish looks fresh and yum! nothing beats a good pasta/veggie soup on a rainy day!
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I agree! It was delicious and warmed us right up!
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That was nice, to see the noodles you ate actually being made. And the dish looks amazing!
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It was definitely a lovely experience. You dont often get to watch your food being prepared unless you are eating from a little road stall somewhere.
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Making noodles…making art. Beautiful and tasty!
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I definitely agree with that, It was like eating a tasty work of art!!
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It looks excellent ! Once more it prove you can t judge a book by his cover
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I have found that in some of these small local cafe’s you find the most tasty and delicious local dishes and love trying them.
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I had the hand-pulled noodles, so gooood! The noodle and vegetables you mom had looks so yuum, Janaline 🙂 Delicious post 🙂
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They are delicious and so glad you also had some Amy, this was definitely one of my top dishes in China!!
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Love this. Also, watching noodles made like this reminds me of Kung Foo movies. So extra-delish.
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I agree, watching our food being made from scratch did definitely add to the flavour and deliciousness of it.
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I once saw in a movie about China that it is there where the best noodles in the world. Unfortunately I can not compare because I’m very often been to Italy, but it is never in China. What do you think?
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I LOVE the noodles I got to eat in China, they were fabulous!! Unfortunately I can not compare it for you to Italian pasta as I have not yet been to Italy. Visiting Italy is very high on my wish-list though.
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Oh, I know I should not say so, because it sounds so terribly precocious. But if you have not see Italy, then you have not seen the world. (And I have seen only a very tiny part of Italy. Yet this was enough to fall in love)
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Love it…great photos and description… These are the ‘pulled noodles’ of LanZhou (LanZhou La Mian), one of my favorites and this place looks so good.
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Thank you, am going to add that to the post now!!
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How cool is this! To actually get photos of someone cooking is in China is marvelous. The only time we did that was when they were cooking on the street. Good for you, and thanks for shairng!
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Thanks Rusha. I agree, we never get to see them cook these delicious dishes and this was like having a show with dinner!
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Freshly made noodles are delicious and we love it when my husband has the time to make them. Though he does not make it quite like the vendors in your photos 🙂
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I also love fresh home made noodles but have always used a pasta cutter….dont know quite how he did it without using one.
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looks delicious!!
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I definitely fell in ,ove with the fabulous fresh noodles we ate all over China but these were definitely the best!!
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yes, I can imagine that! I also enjoyed the food in China very much!!! So have a good time over there! 🙂
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Those noodles with veg look so good!!! I love vegetables. And cake, of course 😉
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It was soooo tasty!!
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