Chuantongmianshi Making Craftsmanship
01 · Historical Records
Minjian noodles began to spread in the suburbs of Taiyuan around the Republic of China period, made from a bean-flour blend of pea and wheat.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Shanxi noodles have long been highly praised nationwide, with the saying 'China's noodles are in Shanxi.' Minjian noodles and cat's-ear noodles are both important varieties of Shanxi noodles. To make them, first add water to the kneaded bean dough to make a soft paste, then place it on a wooden minjian bed densely perforated with sieve holes; press the bed frame with the right hand and hold the minjian scraper in the left, brushing the pasty bean dough through the holes into the boiling pot, then scoop it into a bowl with a strainer to eat. When eating, pour over it a vegetarian broth containing diced tofu, potato, and green beans, and use Chinese chives, sesame, chili paste, and cilantro as seasonings; the taste carries a bean aroma, light and delicious. Cat's-ear noodles are a traditional flavored noodle of central and northern Shanxi, colloquially called 'nian geda,' 'nian tuotuo,' and the like. Cat's-ear noodles have a long history, resembling the 'botuo' described in the Northern Wei 'Qimin Yaoshu,' with a history of about fifteen hundred years. Shaped like a cat's ear, small and exquisite, chewy and smooth, they are a popular noodle that has endured without decline. Cat's-ear noodles are simple to make: after mixing the dough evenly, roll it into a sheet, cut it into pieces, dust with flour, and press forward with both thumbs to form the cat-ear shape. One can also first roll it into a finger-thick strip, pinch off small pieces with the right hand, and press them in the left palm. With the progress of the times and economic development, social customs have changed enormously. The two traditional noodles, minjian and cat's-ear, have changed markedly in ingredient selection, form, and especially taste; genuine, original-flavor versions are rarely seen, causing their traditional-making craft to gradually decline and urgently requiring protection.
Working the binjian bed
A pea-flour paste is pressed across a pierced wooden bed into boiling water, the hole spacing and paste thickness setting the width of the noodles.
The clear soup and garnishes
The noodles are lifted out and dressed with a clear soup containing diced tofu, potato and beans, then chives, sesame, chilli and coriander.
Push, pinch and roll for cat-ear pasta
Rolled dough is cut into blocks and pushed with the thumbs, or rolled into ropes, pinched and rolled in the palm, to form cat-ear shapes.
The older local names
Known locally as ground lumps, these names record how the shape was made by rolling rather than pushing.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
An ordinary dough in the hands of Shanxi people can be turned into nearly a hundred varieties, showing a strong local character. Minjian noodles are among the finest of Shanxi noodles, deeply loved by local people and also welcomed by outsiders.
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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The survival of both minjian noodles and cat's-ear noodles is stuck at the same pass: their form depends on the feel in the hand rather than the memory in a recipe. The density of the sieve holes on the minjian bed and the thickness of the bean-flour paste are entirely governed by how hard one presses the bed; the three cat's-ear moves of pushing, pinching, and rolling also require the fingertips to first know the dough's softness. Once these two kinds of tactile sense are broken between generations, they cannot be recovered, because they enter neither writing nor the scale. More challenging is the shift in taste. After ingredient selection, form, and taste all turn at once, original-flavor products are hard to find on the market, and a gap opens between diners' memory and the shops' practice. Fortunately the process itself still has elasticity—the cat's-ear pushing, pinching, and rolling can still form the shape in a different order, and the minjian bed still produces strands with a different hole diameter; as long as one is willing to bring these two back to the board, the connection can still be reattached. As for the formal connection with the 'botuo' recorded in the Northern Wei 'Qimin Yaoshu,' it can be treated as a lead yet to be examined: the two leave a distance even within their resemblance, and may not come from one lineage, but at least it shows this noodle's history is longer than that of many pastries.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Wang Qingai 04-1907
- Li Huizhong 05-2858
- Li Jiangang 05-2859
- Jia Zhiliang
- Rexiti Yimiti
- Hatamusha Nuer
- Yu Zhenling
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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