Hot & Tingly Hand-Pulled Noodles

Whilst we are largely focusing on the maritime spice routes, here I am taking us on a detour to Xi’an. Breathe in the fragrant steam of dumplings cooking in teetering bamboo towers and watch the Muslim traders selling kebabs, nuts and sugared fruits, bright as jewels. We are in the very middle of China and at the terminus of the overland trade routes known as the Silk Road. Here Chinese and Islamic cooking collides.

Noodle-flingers are a staple of the street food theatre, demonstrat