🍽️ Tianshui Jiangshui Noodle

Fermented sour vegetable noodles.

Tianshui Jiangshui Noodle is a summer favorite of Tianshui and the Longnan region in Gansu, known for its distinctive sour broth. Jiangshui is made by naturally fermenting vegetables such as celery, bitter herb or cabbage in starchy cooking water until the liquid turns gently tangy; it is briefly stir-fried, brought to a boil and poured over hand-rolled thin noodles, topped with chives, scallion and a splash of chili oil. The sour soup is refreshing and appetizing on hot days, the noodles springy and smooth, and drinking the broth leaves you cool and revived. Almost every Tianshui household keeps a crock of fermented jiangshui, and a bowl of these noodles is the local answer to a sweltering, appetite-less day—an inexpensive, homely taste of the upper Yellow River valley.