🍽️ Qishan Mianpi

Sour-spicy noodle skin, west Guan.

Qishan Mianpi is a traditional flavor of Qishan in Baoji, Shaanxi, a sour-spicy cool food of the western Guanzhong plain. Wheat flour is washed for gluten and steamed into a thin cold-skin sheet, or steamed directly from the flour, cut into wide strips and dressed with oil-splashed chili, aged vinegar, soy sauce and mashed garlic, served with gluten and shredded cucumber. The skin is springy and smooth, more heavily sour-spicy than ordinary liangpi, with prominent vinegar and chili-oil aroma that wakes up the appetite. It is the most common cool food in Qishan daily life and on the streets, especially in summer. Compared with Hanzhong rice skin, Qishan mianpi emphasizes the balance of wheat aroma and sour-spicy heat, a calling card of western Guanzhong flavor.