Biangbiang noodles

A bowl of Biángbiang noodles

Biángbiáng noodles are a type of noodle found in Shaanxi Province in northwest China . The special thing about these noodles is their thickness and length and the characters. They are often compared to trouser belts and count as one of the "Eight Curiosities of Shaanxi" ( 陝西八大怪 ).

About the noodle

origin

The noodles come from the immediate vicinity of Xi'an , more precisely from the small village Kāngwáng Cún ( 康王村 ) in the former district of Hù Xiàn ( 户县 ) west of the provincial capital of Shaanxi . At least that's what a broad-based research carried out in October 2009 by Shaanxi TV and Xi'an TV says. The raw material is wheat flour , in ancient times it was more of a mixed meal from piston and millet , elsewhere buckwheat .

Manufacturing

Pure handwork: To make the pasta, the dough is rolled out again and again with a kind of broomstick until it is circular and about the size of a small table top and 1 to 2 mm thick. Then the dough is cut into long strips about 3 to 4 cm wide with the knife, the circular shape results in a different length. In other places, the noodles are cut in a diamond shape.

To cook, they are thrown into a large saucepan with boiling water (no salt!), If foam forms, they are "extinguished" with cold water, three to four times.

consumption

Traditionally, the noodles are eaten with a few pieces of meat, some tofu, green leafy vegetables, bean sprouts and the inevitable Yóupō Làzi ( 油泼辣子 ) - dried, crushed chilli peppers that are poured over with boiling oil -, some salt and vinegar. One of the other peculiarities of Shaanxi can be observed: the eaters don't sit on the benches, they squat ! People like to drink pasta water with pasta.

Once a poor farmers' dish, noodles are increasingly finding their way into better restaurants in cities and are now considered a specialty.

The character Biáng

The character Biáng in regular script , complete form

The character Biáng in Ming script , full form

The corresponding abbreviation

Computer input

Since the character »Biáng« is used very rarely, and it cannot even be entered on the computer, phonetic replacements such as 棒棒麵 ( Bāngbàng Miàn ) or 梆梆麵 ( Bāngbāng Miàn ) are used. Using pinyin in newspapers and books is even easier .

Nursery rhymes

There are a number of nursery rhymes, mostly in the Shaanxi dialect , that will help you memorize this complicated character.

One version goes as follows:

Long characters	Abbreviation	Pinyin	German translation
一點飛上天	一点飞上天	Yì diǎn fēi shàng tiān,	A "point" flies up to the sky
黃河兩道彎	黄河两道弯	Huánghé liǎng dào wān.	the two curves of the Yellow River.
八字大開口	八字大开口	Bā zì dà kāi kǒu,	The sign "eight" ( 八 ) opens the mouth wide,
言字往進走	言字往进走	yán zì wǎng jìnzǒu.	the sign »word« ( 言 ) slips into it.
東一扭西一扭	东一扭西一扭	Dōng yī niǔ, xī yī niǔ,	In the east a "wind", in the west a "wind",
左一長右一長	左一长右一长	zuǒ yī zhǎng, yòu yī zhǎng,	right a "long", left a "long",
中間加個馬大王	中间加个马大王	zhōngjiān jiā ge mǎ dàwáng.	in the middle a "great horse king".
心字底	心字底	xīn zì dǐ	The "heart" ( 心 ) as the floor,
月字旁	月字旁	yuè zì páng	the symbol »moon« ( 月 ) as a side,
留個釣搭挂麻糖	留个钓搭挂麻糖	liú ge diào dā guà má táng	there is still a "hook", a sesame candy cane hangs on it,
坐著車車逛咸陽	坐着车车逛咸阳	zuò zhe chē chē guàng xián yáng	you get in the car and go for a walk to Xianyang .

Origin of the character

The origin of the noodles and the Biáng sign have not yet been clarified. One story claims that the character Biáng was invented by the Prime Minister of the Qin Dynasty Li Si . At least it can't be found in the comprehensive Kangxi dictionary , which indicates that it was created much later than Li Si's lifetime.

The Biangbiang noodle is certainly very old, but the symbol seems to be "only" a few hundred years old, a kind of business logo in which a shrewd graphic designer built pretty much everything to do with a good noodle for the businessman may have:

Stylistically a kind of pot with a lot in it, namely twice the symbol 長 "long", because the noodles should already be long, a 馬 "horse" (even in ancient China, the poor occasionally enjoyed meat , namely when a horse fell dead), the 月 »moon« is actually a shortened form of the sign Zeich »meat« and the 刂 »hook with sesame candy cane« is a short form of the sign Zeich »knife«, a 心 »heart «For enjoyment (if there is a heart in the symbol, it is usually about something that you can feel, smell, taste), framed by the symbol for 辶 » go «- quasi the» noodle for on the go «. What is missing is the head of the sign, a kind of 宀 pot lid, actually the sign 穴 »cavity« and underneath the upper part of the long sign biàn (»change«) - 變 , which gives the entire sign its sound, because you make a smacking noise while eating like "biáng - biáng - biáng", makes.

contents