Around the World and Back

By Pegdalee

Lunch Rush at the Noodle Shop

My friend Say-Yen stumbled across this little noodle shop in Zhongshan and couldn't wait to take me there for a bowl of freshly made noodle soup. The trick was 1) finding it again and 2) avoiding the lunch rush.

Now the Chinese, almost as much as the French, consider lunch not only an enjoyable interlude in their day, but an essential component to good mental and physical health. It's never missed and rarely rushed. There's no scarfing down a sandwich at your desk, no grabbing a falafel from the local food truck, no racing to the salad bar and dining in the elevator on the way back to the office.

The Chinese enjoy their lunch. Perhaps this is because food is never, ever taken for granted in a country that not so long ago was consumed by poverty and where food is still a valued commodity. Perhaps it's because there's very little snacking between meals, and the routine of three squares a day is respected. Whatever the reason, when it's lunchtime, all else stops.

The beauty of this particular noodle shop is the freshness of the noodles. As you can see from the huge steel cauldron being stirred by one of the managers (note the keys hanging from is belt), the noodles are made to order right in front of you. If you look carefully, you can glimpse the cook who's crafting the noodles from scratch right before they go into the steaming pot.

Now, we're not talking about your groovy William Sonoma pasta machine; this guy is starting with a huge ball of dough, lopping off just the right amount, then stretching, twisting, turning, looping, tossing and throwing until the pasta is exactly the right length and consistency for a perfect order of noodles.

Maybe you've seen those specials on the Food Network, where the Chinese chef throws the pasta dough until it magically turns into miles and miles of noodles? Well, you can be certain, those pros have done their time on a lunch rush at the noodle shop!

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