Shaanxi

Seeing as this is my last week in China, I have made it a priority to go out and eat with my friends as much as possible. Not only is this to enjoy all the food I will miss, but also as a sort of festivity with my friends for being so helpful and hospitable. One of the restaurants I got to go to in order to complete my goal was one from the Shaanxi province. This province is famous for its noodles and vinegar, and after eating here I can see why. All vinegar in China is incredible, but the one served at this place is impeccable. And seeing as I’ve become such a fan of noodles, I can also say that the ones specified to be from this region stand out from the rest.

The first plate of food we got was something that was called Four Bowls. It is basically four little bowls filled with different foods from the region. The four bowls included pork belly, tofu, meatballs, and millet. The pork belly was incredible. I usually shy away from pork belly because I find the amount of fat to be too overwhelming, but this one was cooked so properly, that it tasted like butter. The tofu was great as well, along with the meatballs. The millet was served in some sort of citrusy thick sauce, which led me to not like it as much.

The next plate of food was two small pieces of braised pork shank in Chinese spices. It was a bit dry and could have been braised for a couple of more hours, but the flavors were there. Eating it alone though got old a bit quickly though.

The star of the meal was the noodles. You basically get a plate of whatever noodles you want, garnished with vegetables like carrots and bean sprouts. Then you head over to a sauce bar and dress your noodles however you want. They have eggplant based sauces, meat sauces, and vinegar sauces. I got hand sliced noodles with a mix of pork sauce and vinegar. I used to think that hand pulled noodles were my favorite, but after trying the texture of hand sliced I may change my mind.

This meal was incredible and I am glad I got to try food from a different region. Although my time in China is coming to an end, I will definitely remember all the great meals I had with friends.