User:Guansong8/Liangpi

Cold skin noodles

Shannxi Province

History

During the reign of Qin Shi Huang, each village and county had to pay tribute to the court every year. The annual tribute item in Shaanxi Province is rice. Here, people produced the most quality and delicious japonica rice at that time. However, coincided with a severe drought, the peasants could not bring grain to the imperial court, which set them in a pickle. So the people went to a local squire for help and advice. After thoughtful consideration, the squire decided to use the old rice left over from the first year to make a tribute to the court. According to words and deeds, they soaked the old rice overnight, and then ground it into a slurry with stone, after precipitation, they filtered the rice milk and steamed it on the steamer. After cooking, people tasted the cooled rice skin and felt full of praise. The texture was smooth, tender, and fragrant.

After that, people used seasonings on the cold skin noodles, including chili, vinegar, sesame, salt, and soy sauce unexpectedly, which eventually came as liangpi. Later, people offered liangpi as a tribute to Qin Shi Huang’s taste. After taking a bite, Qin Shi Huang felt hot and sour refreshing, tender and smooth, and very delicious, so he decided to take Shaanxi Liangpi as an annual royal tribute. Since then, liangpi has become popular in the province, and has become a unique Shaanxi snack!

Types

Mianjin liangpi (Gluten Liangpi)

Mianjin liangpi (simplified Chinese: 面筋凉皮)is popular in the Guanzhong area, with gluten as the main auxiliary material. When mixing, gluten blocks and seasonal vegetables must be added; Condiments include vinegar, sauce, garlic juice, MSG, salt, spicy oil, sesame oil, and so on.

Qinzhen liangpi (Qin town Liangpi)

Because it is produced in Qin Town, Qinzhen liangpi is also called Qin Town liangpi. The seasoning is less, and the focus is chili oil (the production is more exquisite, and the chili powder is added to the aniseed such as Sichuan pepper and fennel, and the heat is repeatedly boiled in the superior oil, without pepper particles). In May 2007, the production technique of Qinzhen liangpi was included in the first batch of the intangible cultural heritage list of Shaanxi Province.

Hanzhong liangpi

Hanzhong liangpi (simplified Chinese: 汉中凉皮; traditional Chinese: 漢中涼皮; pinyin: Hànzhōng liángpí) or Hanzhong mini (simplified Chinese: 汉中面皮; traditional Chinese: 漢中面皮; pinyin: Hànzhōng miànpí), named for the city of Hanzhong in southwestern Shaanxi, are steamed liangpi with garlic and hot chili oil. Unlike other places, it is often served hot rather than cold.