Biangbiang Noodle
“Biangbiang” is a sound, or a series of sounds. When the chef folds and pulls the dough rod, he swings it up and down to make sure it’s not broken in the middle. Sometimes it hits the table in the front — -Biang! Biang!
The word came out in a sound hundreds of years before the writing. Xi’an was the capital of ancient China. The scholars across the country flocked to Xi’an every year to attend the imperial exam — pursuing the dream of serving the emperor. Xi’an food was of course a huge boon of the trip. One year, a schedule fell in love with a noodle in the town. It was so simple –pulled noodle covered by red pepper powder and hot chili oil, yet the taste ineffable. He noticed the taverns selling this kind of noodle all had the same flag signs –a single word “Noodle”, no words for the type. An owner told him they had the name in verbal for long time –Biangbiang. But nobody knew how to write it as it was just a sound. The scholar happily offered to help. He loved the noodle so much that he determined that the name must be unique so that nobody would find the word outside of a Biangbiang noodle store. For a Chinese word, which is graphic in writing, the more strokes it got, the safer it is not to have same writing in other meanings. He ended up making 56 strokes for one sound, biang! The final name, with two sounds, got a whopping 112 strokes. His invention was a blast; Nobody would use the word, biang, in any other business. It only showed up on the front door sign of noodle restaurants, and, some years later, the National Dictionary. The scholar’s affection was well rewarded -he was the exam champion of the year.
Thousands of years later, this word still stays at the two positions. It has no printing display at any newspaper and website, only an image if it has to show up. A graphic word has no privilege of length nor height. It is squeezed in a universal tiny square no matter how many strokes it has. For a typical Chinese word that has ten strokes or so to write down, 56 is an impossible number for word process workers. A question might jump into your mind as it does to me now –is Biang the Chinese word that has the biggest number of writing strokes? Nope. The biggest number is 512. Yeah, 512. It’s pronounced “Suang”. Of course it has no word input method, either. Meaning? No idea. But reading through the children and grandchildren words in its body, it should have no business with food, but rather Feng Shui –a mystic Chinese philosophy about fortunate and health.
I might have digressed a bit but believe me, none of Xi’an food has come to today without history and culture. Read on my blogs you will see more interesting stories.
Biangbiang noodle is dry –yes I just said “dry noodle has no soul” in my last blog. When surviving the hunger is the goal, pursuing the soul is the luxury that many working classes can’t afford. All they need is a quick gobbling, strong flavor, and staying full for long time. The thick, coarse pulled noodle serve all the purposes. It’s thicker than the soup noodle, stays resilient after long time boiling. Scooped to an ocean bowl, it’s topped with a big spoon of red pepper powder and other ingredients. Then a flood of boiling chili oil splashes down. Hiiiissing……Red bubbles burst out. You need to stir it with force to distribute the oil thoroughly. A thick noodle guarantees the wholeness of the last string at the bottom. When you have a better budget, you can add more toppings, minced scallions and spinach are the popular ones. Feel even better? Carrots, celery, cilantro, bean, and nice big chunks of beef. Regardless, free side dishes are always served: the noodle soup from the boiling pot, a plate of garlic cloves.
Life might be hard for these working classes, but the treat is no short of joy and babel. The Biangbiang sound in the kitchen and the hissing at the final step are echoed by the sound from each eater vigorously sucking the noodles…Cheelou~~~~For many Biangbiang cults, the right ritual is squatting on the bench, not sitting. This has been listed as one of Xi’an’s (in)famous “Eight Mysteries”, or “Eight Strange Things”: the bench is not for sitting, but for squatting.
