Shinry Lamian restaurant offers a traditional treasure from Lanzhou that is located in North Western China. Owner of Shinry Lamian, Chelsea Zhang, grew up in Lanzhou, a popular city located in the providence of Gansu, who is famous for their Lanzhou beef noodle soup.
BUILDING A BETTER BAY AREA: Fremont
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The traditional La Mian noodles have been handmade for many generations.
"Chelsea wanted to introduce the very famous, traditional noodle here in the U.S.," said Songxiao Liao, Zhang's translator. "There was nothing about Lanzhou la mian here (In Fremont) which is very crazy to not have this food that is very popular in China."
After a year in business, Zhang decided to change her restaurant from barbecue to Lanzhou la mian, the traditional noodle that is hand-pulled.
Zhang didn't want to hire just any noodle-puller. She wanted a traditional master noodle-puller with a Lanzhou background.
"The noodle puller is an expertise and is not easy to find because it is like a Chinese Cultural treasure," said Liao. "Chelsea was eager to find a master noodle puller. Chelsea wanted an expert who was born and has the key skills from Lanzhou."
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After talking back and forth with a master noodle-puller, he finally agreed to help Zhang at Shinry Lamian.
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"The current noodle-puller really hit her stomach with the taste and finally she found the right person to help her," said Liao.
La Mian noodles are made for the Lanzhou beef noodle soup which the traditional Chinese soup.
Traditional La Mian noodles are made with flour and made into a thick dough. The master noodle-puller kneads and twirls the dough until it is at its desired consistency. The dough is then pulled, stretched and dropped into a pot of hot boiling water.
At Shinry Lamian, the noodles are meant to be cooked and eaten quickly.
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"We import the ingredients from Lanzhou to the U.S. to get the exact flavor from Lanzhou," said Liao. "We want you eat it fast so the soup can keep the flavor. If you wait some time the noodles will melt."
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Shinry Lamian serves eight different La mian noodles but is open to make any type of noodle upon the customer's request. Zhang plans to introduce more Lanzhou dishes and share more of the Chinese culture to the Bay Area.
Visit Shinry Lamian in Fremont, for an authentic Lanzhou taste.
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