Lanzhou Beef Noodle Making Technique

The craft of Lanzhou beef noodles grew from the refinements of early twentieth-century Hui chefs such as Ma Baozi, evolving from "hot-pot noodles" into the clear-broth bowl handed down among the noodle houses around the city temple and Qiaomen alley; listed in 1999 as one of three national pilots for Chinese fast food and hailed as "China's No. 1 noodle," it entered the fifth national ICH list in 2021 as an extension project under number Ⅷ-160.

The craft centres on the five-colour standard of clear soup, white radish, red chilli, green garlic and yellow noodles: the beef-bone broth simmered slowly, the radish sliced to line the bowl, the chilli oil flashed for colour, garlic and coriander to finish, and the alkaline dough pulled to order. The thicknesses run to a remarkable range—hair-fine, three-fine, two-fine, two-post, leek-leaf, buckwheat-ridge, flat and broad ribbon—each by the master's hand and experience.

The craft of Lanzhou beef noodles carries the essence of northwest food culture and the street tradition born of Hui-Han exchange, standing as one of Lanzhou's most important cultural symbols and holding real value for the study of Chinese noodle craft and regional food culture.

In any of Lanzhou's noodle houses, above all time-honoured names such as Mazilu, one can watch the master pulling the dough and see the five-colour standard made live.