Chilli-Oil Noodles

Chilli-oil noodles are the headline breakfast of Yichang: alkaline or plain wheat noodles boiled and lifted out, then dressed with a chilli oil slow-cooked from dozens of spices, seasoned with soy, garlic, pickled mustard, scallion and crushed peanut; once mixed, the strands gleam red and glossy, savoury, mildly hot and deeply aromatic.

The rise of chilli-oil noodles in Yichang is tied to its river-port culture—this Yangtze city of dam-builders favoured a hot, brisk, filling bowl for breakfast, and the dish spread to every street and lane, becoming the city's most recognisable everyday meal, with old houses such as Fang Ma Noodle House carrying it on since 1983.

At dawn the noodle houses open to a queue; diners order a bowl and may add beef, pork intestine or a fried egg as a topping, mixing it hot and slurping in big mouthfuls with a side of clear broth or soy milk—an unshakeable breakfast ritual for the people of Yichang.

The glossy red appearance, the intense spice-laden chilli oil and the springy alkaline strands are what set Yichang's chilli-oil noodles apart from Wuhan hot-dry noodles or Chongqing xiaomian.