Chinese food has recently become all the rage in urban cities. I'm not talking about those "American-Chinese" restaurants that usually serve overly sweet and saucy fried chicken. Authentic Chinese cuisine has almost no resemblance. Traditional Chinese dishes are often hidden on Chinese-language menus in Chinatown, and they have the most exotic and alien names, like Fuqi Fei Pian (literally "slices of a married couple's lung"), Mapo Tofu (literally “pockmarked old woman’s beans”). ) and Xiao Long Bao (literally “the little dragon’s dumpling”). I can add 100 more such dishes to this list, but I will highlight one of my favorites: “Liang Pi”, the name translates to cold skin noodles. Spongy, chewy, glassy noodles bathed in a loving, spicy, savory sauce and garnished with slivers of cucumber and green onion, Liang Pi is one of western China's most popular street foods. Say no to plagiarism. Get a custom essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essayThe first time I encountered Liang Pi was at Xi'an Famous Foods in Midtown Manhattan during a family trip to New York. To my surprise, we were surrounded by young students and professionals in the restaurant, and many more non-Chinese customers than I'm used to seeing in most Chinese restaurants. I guess many of them may have never heard of Xi'an, a city in western China and even home to the Terracotta Warriors. Yet they all know the city's signature dishes, thanks to Xi'an Famous Food, where traditional Chinese cuisine has become popular with young customers. Did I mention there were hip-hop songs in Chinese playing in the restaurant? Liang Pi can be difficult to prepare, due to the unusual appearance and texture of the noodles. Liang Pi is made by washing wheat flour to separate the starch and gluten, the starch water being steamed, then cooled and sliced ​​into long thin noodles, and the remaining solid gluten is cut into cubes of seitan. Then these two main ingredients are mixed with a mixture of greens served on a paper plate. The spicy aspect of the dish comes from a considerable amount of chili oil, with vinegar to add a sour taste. All for just over $4, it's tempting and I like to think of it as a simple evening lunch. At first glance, I expected a bowl of noodles submerged in soup. Instead, the only "soup" on the plate was robust chili oil with vinegar and distinct spices like star anise and maybe a little cinnamon. I was trying something new and unusual. I usually get a bowl of noodle soup, but this one was particularly different. The noodles had a dark orange color on the outside, but stirring and turning the bouncy noodles revealed a fractal of colors: green, orange, blood red, and transparent white. Additionally, I started hitting the noodles with my spoon, creating vibrations in the noodles. As a result, I even got hot pepper oil in my eyes! The noodles look like glass and feel like rubbery skin when you bite into them. To digest this noodle, you will have to chew it several times. Sipping the noodles would send a flame of hot pepper oil down your throat and that satisfying “insult ffpp” sound. As I sipped, I noticed my mouth had become a giant balloon ready to explode. Xi'an Famous Foods had made the noodles incredibly long by.