HOT NOODLES WITH SESAME SAUCE or 热(Rè)干(Gān)面(Miàn) *

MAIN INGREDIENTS: alkaline noodles (wheat), peanuts, tahini sauce, sesame oil, pickled radish, five spice, beef stock, white pepper corns, Sichuan pepper corns.

HISTORY: it is said that on a particularly hot day during the 1930s, a Wuhan salesperson cooked and spread cold noodles on the chopping board to prevent them noodles from spoiling. But after accidentally knocking over a nearby bowl of sesame oil, he was forced to improvise a dish, lest he lose the day’s allocation of noodles. He added scallions, soy sauce, and other seasoning, only to find that he’d concocted a noodle dish that was, in fact, delicious. This dish is generally eaten hot so as to preserve its essence; it also requires persistent movement and displacement to prevent the noodles from becoming stuck together.