Dunhuang Liangpi

Dunhuang liangpi is a cold noodle dish made by washing gluten from wheat dough, settling the starch and steaming it into translucent, pale-yellow, chewy sheets, served with steamed gluten, cut into strips and tossed with chilli oil, garlic, mustard, vinegar and sesame paste.

Liangpi is a street snack shared across the northwest, long rooted in Dunhuang through the coming and going of Silk Road travellers, becoming one of the most everyday tastes of its lanes, accompanying generations of locals through their afternoons and evenings.

Tossed to order and eaten fresh, tart and hot and appetite-sharpening with a springy bite, it is most often an afternoon snack or a cold side dish, a common made-to-order treat at Shazhou Night Market and street stalls.

Its translucent pale-yellow skin, the contrast of texture with the steamed gluten, and the bold tart-hot north-western seasoning are the hallmarks of Dunhuang liangpi.