The Streteching noodles

Tieliang is a Manchu. When he was asked which flag his ancestors were from, he said he didn't know, but he didn't care which flag he was from, he was just working to eat.

Tieliang is a famous person in Beijing, famous for stretching good noodles. Tieliang has a good brother, is also a famous person, the fame is and filler. At the famous restaurant, Tie Liang's brother was the one who made the filling for all the steamed buns, dumplings and pancakes. Before dawn, he got up, and after a store and then go and another store, at dawn, the day's work is done. Meat, vegetables, ingredients, and together, mixed with soup and beat well. Mixing is a laborious job, and not to beat the filling in the morning to become a thin soup in the afternoon, which has a measure.

Tieliang, specializing in a family to do. The noodles are cooked whenever there are customers to eat.

Tie Liang originally had a few shares of money in the store, then the store called the government public-private partnership, Tie Liang some reluctance, in front of the public family said a few words. The family members, who used to come to the store to eat the noodles stretched by Tie Liang, persuaded Tie Liang to say a few words. A few years later, Tie Liang knew that he was afraid and was grateful to the family.

The most important thing about noodle stretching is the mixing of the noodles. The noodles are first mixed together and then put on the case with a wet cloth to "save". Later, when there was more movement, Tie Liang said, this introspection is our saving noodles. Save a good surface, how you want to knead pinch pinch pull, as you wish.

Save the good noodles, no lumps inside. Once the flour mixed with water, put not much time will be sour, so we need to put alkali. The noodles with lye are ready to be stretched.

Some people use their tongues to test whether the lye is too much or too little, and if they lick it, there is a bitter-sweet fragrance, which is suitable. Tie Liang does not use his tongue to test the lye, half of the reason is that stretching the noodles is a job that is open to the public and the customers are watching, in person. Tieliang uses his nose to smell, and if there is too much alkali, he puts it in again to "save" alkali.

The runner counted the number of customers wanted, and shouted to Tie Liang in a long voice. The customer went out to the street and leaned against the store window to watch Tie Liang stretch the noodles, as if he had bought a standing ticket to the theater.

Tie Liang is not ambiguous, when one hand pulled out a fist of noodles, snap, and together, rolled into thick strips, pinch the two ends, up and down a long, on a person. The length of a person's arms outstretched is equal to the person's height. Tieliang two hands to the middle of a combined, is two strands, and then stretched again together, is four strands, and then stretched again together, eight strands, sixteen strands, thirty-two strands, 64 strands, one hundred and twenty-eight strands. After pinching off the two ends and flinging them towards the back of the head, it looks like the braid of a big girl flying down into the pot on the stove, the customer smiles and turns around to go back to his seat in the store.

The man at the pot stirred it twice with two long chopsticks, and the big strainer took it out and served it in a sea bowl with beef bone broth, adding the noodles, sprinkling a few slices of coriander, shredded green onion, young spinach with red roots, and full of chili oil, red, green and white, and put it in front of the customer. The guest picked up a chopsticks of noodles, open mouth to eat, the heat steam forehead a little bright. Tieliang, and the street acquaintances chatted for a while.

In the early 1950s, when the counter-revolution was suppressed, the prisoners were allowed to order roadside restaurants to eat their last bite of human food when they were escorted to the execution ground. An old man was being escorted in a car and passed by Tie Liang's store, saying that he needed to eat a mouthful of stretched noodles on his way to the underworld. So escorted in, the old man opened his mouth to ask for dragon beard noodles, Tie Liang also did not say anything, began to stretch.

Tie Liang stretched a few times, personally put the noodles into the pot, instantly picked up, into the soup with both hands and held the bowl in front of the old man. The onlookers all stretched their heads to see, unable to say anything. The old man picked up the noodles to see the light, the handcuffs clattered, ate a bite, said, this is the meaning, and greeted on the road.

Tieliang later told people that this is the benefactor who lent me money to learn the craft, he just wanted me to stretch the hair noodles, I also have to stretch out.