Chinese food has been all the rage in urban cities recently. I'm not referring to those "Chinese-American" restaurants that commonly serve overly sweetened and seasoned fried chicken. Authentic Chinese food bears almost no resemblance. Traditional Chinese dishes are often hidden on Chinese-language menus in Chinatown, and have the most exotic and alien names, such as Fuqi Fei Pian (literally "Married Couple's Lung Slices"), Mapo Tofu (literally "Pockmarked Old Woman") and Xiao Long Bao (literally "Little Dragon Dumpling"). I could add 100 more similar dishes to this list, but I will highlight one of my favorites: "Liang Pi", the name translates as cold skin noodles. Soft, chewy, glassy noodles bathed in sweet, spicy, savory sauce and topped with slivers of cucumber and green onion, Liang Pi is one of the most popular street foods in Western China. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The first time I encountered Liang Pi was at Xi'an Famous Foods in Midtown Manhattan during a family trip to New York. To my surprise, we were surrounded by young students and professionals in the restaurant and many more non-Chinese customers than I am used to seeing in most Chinese restaurants. I imagine many of them have never heard of Xi'an, a city in western China and even home to the Terracotta Warriors. Yet everyone knows the city's signature foods, thanks to Xi'an Famous Food, where traditional Chinese food has been popularized among young customers. Did I mention that the restaurant had hip-hop songs in Chinese? Liang Pi can be difficult to make, due to the dough's unusual appearance and texture. Liang Pi is prepared by washing wheat flour to separate the starch and gluten, with the starch water it is steamed, then cooled and cut into long thin noodles, and the remaining solid gluten is cut into cubes of seitan. Then these two main ingredients are mixed with a medley of green vegetables served on a paper plate. The spicy aspect of the dish comes from a significant amount of chili oil, with vinegar added to add a sour flavor. All for just over $4 it's tempting and I like to think of it as a simple weeknight lunch. At first glance I was expecting a bowl of noodles dipped in soup. Instead, the only “soup” on the plate was the robust chili oil with vinegar and special spices like star anise and maybe a little cinnamon. I was trying something new and unusual. I usually get a bowl of noodle soup but this one was particularly different. The noodles had a dark orange color on the outside, but stirring and turning the bouncy noodles revealed a fractal of colors: green, orange, blood red, and transparent white. Also, I started hitting the noodles with the spoon, creating vibrations inside the noodles. As a result, I even got some hot chili oil in my eyes! The noodles resemble glass and feel like rubbery skin when you bite into them. To digest this paste, you should chew it many times. Drinking the noodles would send a blast of spicy chili oil and that satisfying “slur ffpp” noise down your throat. As I drank, I noticed that my mouth had become a giant balloon ready to explode. Xi'an Famous Foods had made the noodles incredibly long due to the Chinese belief that long noodles correlate with a long life. The noodles had tongue-tickling heat. The soupy sauce had a pungent taste and.