Acidic Soup Rice Noodles

Acidic Soup Rice Noodles

　　　　　　Yuxi’s uniquely flavored Acidic Soup Rice Noodles are renowned across the province for their delicious taste. Visitors to Yuxi who miss out on trying them will surely regret it.

Yang Caikē’s Acidic Soup Rice Noodles were the most famous among the many rice noodle stalls in Yuxi Prefecture before liberation. Back then, his stall was located under the Xianggu Tower (now at the intersection of Xinxing Road and Beimen Street), where he used Yuxi’s large white rice (an old variety) as the ingredient, grinding and selling it himself. The noodles were fine, white, soft, yet not mushy.

To serve a bowl of noodles, first place some chopped Chinese chives, then add a square piece of pea jelly about four fingers wide and one centimeter thick. Next go the sweet sauce (homemade vinegar), soy sauce, sesame paste (homemade), Chinese toon water, salted brine, and other seasonings. Finally, pour on a ladle of bright, clear, crimson oil chili sauce dotted with two or three tiny bits of fried pork residue. When the bowl is placed before you, the rich aroma wafts up, instantly whetting your appetite. In the bowl, snow-white noodles, golden-yellow jelly, emerald-green chives, pitch-black soy sauce, and bright-red chili oil (made fresh daily, hence strongly fragrant) create a vibrant splash of colors. The whole bowl is strikingly beautiful and a delight to the eye. As you eat, you’ll enjoy the cool, fragrant, delicious, and comforting taste. In hot weather, diners flock to the stall. Some regular customers from Kunming even drive over when they can, and after eating, take several bowls back to share with relatives and friends. There’s a saying among the rural folks of Yuxi: “If you come to visit the Prefecture City market but don’t eat a bowl of Yang Caikē’s Acidic Soup Rice Noodles, it’s as if you never went to the market.” (Yuxi)