- March 10,2023
It is said to be a kind of early snack brought by ethnic minorities from their ancestral land, but after arriving in Beijing, it was modified and prepared with some small ingredients not found elsewhere. Real good noodle tea is available in villages and cities. In southeast corner of middle intersection in city of Qinghe in northern Beijing, there is a kiosk Chang, and owner of kiosk is also named Chang, he is a Muslim. The noodle tea prepared by others consists solely of millet noodles, that is, thin noodles ground from "穄 (jì)", sometimes with a small amount of millet or soy noodles (no more in city), boiled into a thin paste and set. Sprinkle it with sesame seeds, pepper, and salt, and then use chopsticks to slide back and forth in middle of sesame paste bowl, and sesame paste will fall onto noodle tea. It tastes sweet, slightly spicy, with a taste of sesame paste, a good breakfast. The author became convinced that those sold in city are not as good as those sold in countryside. Camellia oleifera from Qinghe Ansi is exquisitely prepared, eaten by many people, and price is not expensive. Even owners and accountants of Qiansan Shaoguo (winery) in city came to Ansi kiosk for noodle tea after a morning walk. Later, when author ate noodle tea at temple fairs such as Bait Temple and breakfast shops, he prepared it crudely, with no regard for materials and methods of preparation. It was simply "noodle tea." Later, when I asked insiders, I found out that selling noodle tea alone does not make a lot of money, and all money is made by selling other healthy products. Noodle tea sales are for occasional use only, and noodle tea is sold with other snacks. Only then did I realize mystery and even thought of meticulous and inexpensive Qinghe Anxi noodle tea, which is really not easy. It really can be regarded as "a gentleman loves money, and he gets it properly." Today author is almost 70 years old, and looking at it again, soup stand was changed early: "Hard to find" and it was changed to sell jeans up!
