Shanghai Nosh Advisory: The Steamed Noodles at Qin Affective Tone Snack
Shanghai Nosh Advisory, has teamed up with City Weekend to show you some of the best authentic local fare in Shanghai. In this blog, we visit Qin Affective Tone Snack to check out their steamed noodles.
City Weekend user eddie10 gave us a heads-up regarding this fine noodle joint near the Beixinjing subway stop on line one.
Qin Affective Tone Snack (qín diào, 秦调) specializes in Shaanxi-style noodle favorites, but the Li family which runs the operation actually hails from Henan and they have added a few of their provincial favorites to the menu.
Both Shaanxi and Henan have very strong snack traditions and when the two come together, as they do at Qin Affective, what results is an explosion of regional noodle flare, which is sorely needed in light of Shanghai’s own feeble noodle options.-1
Henan special steamed noodles (tèsè zhēngmiàn, 特色正面) are, just as the name suggests, steamed as opposed to boiled. Once a first round of steaming makes noodles a bit soft, they are added to a stir fry of green peppers, long beans, sprouts and chopped pork.
Mixed with soy and a handful of dry seasonings, they are returned to a bamboo basket for a few more minutes of steam until being served.
What makes Henan steamed noodles distinct is not so much the salt and spice of the stir fry base, but more so the texture of firm noodles and crisp vegetables. Too often, noodles in this town are served up limp and lifeless. It is also appealing to have a bamboo steamer full of noodles on your table as a centerpiece.
From the Shaanxi side of the menu, Boss Li’s most popular items are a variety of hand-pulled noodle favorites and he invites guests to stop by in the late morning hours to watch as fresh noodles are made at a workstation by the shop’s main entrance.
Qin Affective’s rou jia mo (ròu jiā mó, 肉夹馍) are a solid choice as well, which stand out thanks to a soft, fresh bun plus standard beef and pork filling options.
1 - Note that any “data” shown in the Placement of China’s Best Noodles diagram is wholly based on the opinions of Shanghai Nosh Advisory and is not the result of any statistical sampling or formal study.
DETAILS
What:Qin Affective Tone Snack (秦调)
Where: 48 Beiyu Road (at Tianshan West Road), 长宁区北渔路48号(近天山西路)
Tel: 021-32525127
English menu: only on the to-go menu, available from the cashier
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Also, :-) its subway Line Two. :-)
Right on both counts Eddie. I will make sure these are corrected. Thanks agin for the great recommendation.
Glad to help. Really need to stop having so many lazy weekends and go visit/check-out more of your recommendations. :-) Keep up the Nosh-ing reviews, perhaps we will bump into each other in a little noodle store.
Nice one Bill. Didn't know it was a Henan specialty instead of a Shaanxi (not Shanxi) one, as I had assume the store specialised in Shaanxi province food. :-) [HTML_REMOVED] Another small nitpick, by (tèsè zhēngmiàn, 特色[[正面]]) - probably you mean "蒸面" (steam + noodle)?