[dropcap size=big]B[/dropcap]iang-biang is the distinct sound you’re bound to hear when cruising the bustling streets of Xi’an in Central China. It’s the slappity-slap of fresh noodles being beaten and stretched from a blob of wheat dough on a stainless steel kitchen surface. After a couple of very loud biang-biangs! The noodles are gently cooked for your slurping pleasure.
Biangbiang is also the Chinese onomatopoeic word describing the hand-crafted production of Shaanxi province’s famous, crazy wide, long noodles that you could probably double as a cummerbund–in fact, sometimes it’s called belt noodles.
Straight from Xi’an, China, comes Noodle Art, a new restaurant in Monterey Park specializing in biangbiang noodles and other regional must-eats. Noodle Art’s chef/owner Xibao Wen has been cooking for the people of his province of Shaanxi since 1985 while working in his two other restaurants based in Xi’an. This is Wen’s first venture into the U.S., and he did it during a lingering pandemic, replacing a defunct Sichuan restaurant in a Monterey Park strip mall.
Noodle Art brings its original Xi’an menu to the SGV while deleting a few of the lesser-known (to Americans) Shaanxi choices and doubles down on the noodle options: the famous biangbiang noodles varnished with chili oil and fortified with braised pork and mixed vegetables, soups brimming of biangbiang noodles customized by braised mutton, spicy beef, or shredded pork, and also a satisfying stir-fry of hand-rolled noodles that are extra long, smooth, sleek, and perfect for slurping.