Nanquan noodles with peas made by Shu Jiahua are popular with visitors in the food festival. 

Shu Jiahua had an exclusive that he could hold 16 bowls of noodles at most when he was young. (Photo provided by the interviewee.)

CHONGQING (CQNEWS) -- Chongqing people favors noodles the most. There is a deep meaning in a bowl of noodles, which shows the characteristics of Sichuan food to a great extent, such as spicy and fresh flavors. And now it plays a necessary part in the life of Chongqing people. Shu Jiahua is a noodle master and the inheritor of municipal intangible cultural heritage. In his opinion, the noodles are a cultural sign and soul symbol of this city. 

In the past 40 years, Nanquan noodles with peas made by Shu Jiahua have taken great changes except its flavor in those days. 

Noodles with peas dates from Nanquan

It is said that Chongqing noodles with peas date from Nanquan noodles with peas. In 1935, the couple of Wang Yunzhang from Luzhou started their noodles business in a small stall with a pot of water and a bowl of noodles. 

In 1945, they settled down in Nanquan and the customers got used to calling their noodles as “Nanquan noodles with peas”. 

In 1956, along with public-private joint management, Nanquan noodles with peas was divided into Nanquan Catering Joint Department. The parents of Shu Jiahua worked in the restaurant. And then Shu Jiahua took the place of his father and worked in the restaurant of Nanquan noodles with peas. On the first day at work, he took Wang Yunzhang as his master. 

Shu Jiahua grasped the essence of noodles with peas after hard work, and he also took Chongqing Catering Skill Competition in 1979. He was praised as “skill model” and made Nanquan noodles with peas more famous. 

Put noodles bowls on the ping-pong table and hold 16 bowls with one hand

At that time, being the same with other restaurants, the restaurant of Nanquan noodles with peas was shabby. There were only white walls, ceilings and a worn-out fan. A large pot with the diameter of 1.2 meter was used to cook noodles. There were 8 tables and three of them were used to make seasonings in the restaurant. 

About 300kg flour would be sold every day at that time and 8 tables weren’t enough. There was a ping-pong table in the near post office. In the rush hour of lunch, the table was full of noodles bowls and most of customers only can stand to have lunch. In order to improve the speed of making seasoning, Shu Jiahua had an exclusive to hold 16 bowls in one hand at the same time. He also can walk steadily after holding bowls in his arm.

Use a sense of design in noodles and become standard generally

Later, Shu Jiahua had to leave Nanquan Joint Catering Store due to work demand. In the 1990s, a trend of starting business was popular among China. Shu Jiahua also started his own business. He retained the job but suspended the salary to leave for Hainan, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Neimeng, Beijing and other places to work in the kitchen and learn advanced catering concept. 

Although Shu Jiahua has been the chef of many restaurants of Sichuan and Guangzhou food, he still isn’t able to let Chongqing noodles go. After 2000, there were more and more Chongqing noodles restaurants and having a bowl of noodles became a catering tradition for Chongqing people. He returned to his hometown and did training of noodles. After training thousands of chefs of noodles, he decided to restart Nanquan noodles with peas. In 2013, Nanquan noodles with peas showed in the exit of coach station in Wanda Plaza of Nanping. It is praised as “time-honored brand of Chongqing” and one of the representative project of the fifth batch of intangible cultural heritage of Chongqing. 

“It is possible that no one will have a bowl of noodles if the same former method is used.” Shu Jiahua knows a lot about this lesson and makes creation based on traditional flavors. He invented a kind of noodles with peas, including three parts. The noodles are covered with soft and waxy yellow peas, golden meat paste and green Chinese chives which accounts one third respectively. And then soya bean and broken sprouts are put into and mix them together. 

The noodles goes abroad and thousands of bowls of noodles are sold in three days. 

“People are much stricter with catering environment compared with that in the past.” Shu Jiahua said. People not only enjoy delicious food, but also focus on the experience of catering. Even if it is a bowl of noodles, diners prefer choosing to a neat and comfortable restaurant with wifi.

In September, 2017, Nanquan noodles with peas attended “Chines-Britain Food Festival” held in London. Under the London Tower Bridge, the special flavor of Chongqing noodles attracts the local Chinese and foreigners who waited in a long line before the stall. Someone who waited in the line for more than one hour just wanted to have a bowl of Chongqing noodles. 

Shu Jiahua thinks that a bowl of noodles is a kind of life. The noodles becomes a mark of the times, showing the love of Chongqing people to life. Various tastes of life can be enjoyed even in a simple bowl of noodles. (Translated by Chen Dandan, Fathom Language Limited)