Eight years ago, when I arrived back in New York City after living in China for a year, I not only missed the chaos of living in close proximity to 1.5 billion other people — well, in reality, my town was a “village” of just eight-hundred thousand — but I also craved delicious bowls of my favorite street food, lamian.
I had lived on these hand-pulled noodles, and sometimes suspected that the rumors of opium-laced broth were true, as during winter nights, there was little that could take my mind off that delicious meal.
I Googled lamian immediately on my return, assuming that surely, in New York City, there would be an abundance of options. I was thrilled at the prospect of introducing friends to the wonder of lamian.
I was, however, shocked to find that in 2002 the search “lamian+new york” returned no results, so I spent the better part of a year on obscure sites and expat forums.
About six months later I found a brief mention of a hole-in-the-wall that served hand-pulled noodles. Lamian wasn’t specified, but I was hopeful.
I trekked downtown with a hungover friend in tow. We were the only non-Chinese in the restaurant and the other patrons regarded us with a look of surprise, especially when I used my rusty Chinese to order. I requested lamian, but was corrected by the waitress, nui rou mian (beef noodle soup). The meal was tasty, cheap, and a close approximation, but it lacked the depth of flavor I was hankering for.
About that time, another American teacher, a friend I’d meet in China, called and casually mentioned a new cookbook, The Food of China. “The food actually tastes Chinese,” she noted. I quickly ordered the book and was drawn to the recipe for cinnamon beef noodle soup. While the recipe didn’t specify lamian, the combination of flavors looked right. One test and I was proven correct — I’d found my lamian!
There are now lamian restaurants throughout New York; however, I find many of the broths weak imitations of the first lamian I fell in love with. So here’s the recipe from The Food of China that I believe captures the complexity of flavors I’ve been searching for but can’t always find.
Although about.china.com has thorough instructions on how to hand-pull noodles, my level of coordination isn’t up for the task, but with this recipe I have mastered the broth.
Lanzhou Lamian (Cinnamon Beef Noodle Soup)
Serves 6
1 teaspoon oil
10 scallions, cut into 1″ pieces
10 garlic cloves thinly sliced
6 slices of ginger smashed with the flat side of a cleaver
1 1/2 t chile bean paste (Togan Jiang) *****need photo
2 cinnamon sticks (primarily use cassia in China)
2 star anise
1/2 cup light soy sauce
2 lb chuck steak, trimmed and cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes
thick wheat noodles
chopped scallion and cilantro for garnish
Heat oil in large saucepan. Stir-fry scallions, garlic, ginger, chile bean paste, cinnamon and star anise until fragrant (1 mintue). Add soy sauce and 9 cups of water. Bring to a boil and add beef.Simmer covered for 1 1/2 hours, until beef is tender. Skim foam from surface of broth to remove impurities and fat. Remove ginger and cinnamon.
Cook noodles in broth, serve topped with chopped meat, scallions, cilantro and lajiao.
Thank you so much! I had lamian at a street vendor in Sichuan province and liked it so much I went there for lunch every day for the two weeks I was there. I came back the US and asked my Chinese American friends about “the noodles with cinnamon” but no one knew what I was talking about. I can’t wait to try this recipe!
It’s great to hear from another lamian addict! Please let me know how the recipe turns out–I hope it transports you back to a hole-in-the-wall in Sichuan province.
I leave for lanzhou in 14 days and can’t wait to try this famous dish!!!!
I heard that they put a special grass ash to the dough so the noddle can be (la)ed, or stretched, without this ash the noddle breaks when it is (la)ed. Do you know what is this special salt is?
Another thing that always amaze me is the “dou jiang” or the soybean milk, the flavor is very different from the one we get from Western supermarket, do anyone know how to make this? I love street food in China.
just found this post while looking for a recipe.
fyi — this is pretty similar to pho if you add cinnamon to the pho
ohhh man i just moved back to europe after high school in shanghai- there was a lanzhou style restaurant in the village outside my school… i went there allll the tiiiime! and now i miss la mian so much… i’m going to try this out i’m so excited
We adopted our daughter from Gansu province last year. We spent a week in Lanzhou and had these wonderful noodles several times. The smell is so distinctive that I could walk down the street and identify the shops that sold these noodles as we passed by. I am so excited to try this recipe!
Hi! Thanks for posting this recipe! La mian is by far my favorite food in China… but partially because of the dry red pepper seasoning that a lot of restaurants set out at the tables. I’m just wondering if you have any guesses as to what that’s made of…
I lived in Lanzou and have made this soup several times. It is very close to what I know as Laimain. One could also serve with a boiled egg(Lazhou) and fresh sliced radishes on the side(me) also for those in New York City, there are several noodle places at the end of Eldridge St. my preference is Super Taste as the owner is from Lanzhou and hand pulls the noodles per order.
Thanks for the recommendation. I’ll be checking out Super Taste this weekend.