This space is generally given over to fine and finer dining establishments -- restaurants with a capital R -- where ambiance, presentation and service are part of the package. But there are places of more typical fare that deserve to be pointed out. Yipin Shanxi Daoxiaomian is just such a place.
Located in an otherwise forgettable part of western Taipei, Yipin nonetheless has a steady stream of loyal clientele whose nightly queuing always attracts newcomers, curious to know what's worth getting in line to eat. They're rarely disappointed and, I will personally vouch, are often found in line again.
Daoxiaomian are those noodles you may have seen being nimbly sliced off a sizable chunk of well-kneaded dough with an implement that looks more like a carpenter's plastering tool than a kitchen utensil. The preparation is such a cooking curiosity that most daoxiaomian restaurants put their kitchen adjacent to the sidewalk to attract customers. Think of it as the Chinese equivalent of the pizzeria chef who tosses his pizza base into the air. A daoxiaomian cook who truly knows his stuff can strike a bowl-full of noodles into a vat of boiling water without losing the ash on his cigarette. Though, it should be said, the cooks at Yipin are asked to do their smoking outside.
It is said that during the Yuan dynasty (1279 to 1368), when the Mongols took over central China, they were afraid that the Han people might revolt, so they took all the weapons away from them, even their kitchen knives. Every 10 families had to take turns sharing one cooking knife.
The legend of Shanxi hand-cut noodles has it that once, when it was a particular family's turn to use the knife, the husband came home without it while his wife waited less-than-patiently to begin cooking. To cover for his mistake, he handed her a thin strip of metal he'd found on his way home and told her to use it to chop the noodle paste then slash it. The wife did exactly as her husband said and discovered that the resulting noodles were surprisingly delicious. Gradually, everyone in Shanxi learned to make noodles without using a knife and daoxiaomian became famous.
One of the heartier types of Chinese noodles -- thick and chewy -- daoxiaomian is not for those who like their noodles more toward the angel-hair pasta side of the pasta spectrum.
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