The true beauty of nature

　My perception of beef noodles has a process, from meeting to knowing, from strange to familiar; from the beginning to the end, and from the end back to the beginning. Between the twists and turns, a wisp of ramen, you can see the social landscape; a bowl of noodle soup, lamenting the changes of the times.

　　The first beef noodles I ate was in my home county, in the county's streets, a group of uprooted outsiders brought, at that time there was a sense of extraterritoriality. On the briquette stove was a large white iron pot, steaming hot, with a long iron plate sticking up next to the pot. The man wearing a small white hat grabbed the dough with both hands and kept wrestling it on the iron plate, making a "bang bang bang" sound. See a diner coming, immediately speed up, dipped in flour, while falling side pull, dough wave-like jumping to both sides of the extension, to the two arms to stretch can no longer stretch when the two ends of the face suddenly together, like a vertical twist, fast rotation, rotation is complete, and then fall hard to the flour on the board, a white mist of powder. Drop pull pull, repeated several times and then folded and stretched, pull pull pull pull, a wisp of ramen jumped out of sight, then I thought it was very magical, thought that people can magic.

　　Ramen noodles into the pot, in the boiling soup quickly fished out, I have doubts, such a short time can not be cooked I have doubts. The ramen was served in a large bowl with a spoonful of beef, which was minced, very little, but the soup was very juicy, and then sprinkled with a little cilantro. A round ball of ramen noodles, a bowl of soy-colored noodle soup, dots of bright green cilantro, very fragrant, especially the rich beef flavor of the noodle soup.

　　This is the initial encounter between beef ramen and me, and ate it for years, always thought that beef noodles are like this. Until once in the provincial capital, suddenly found that beef noodles and our county is different, not only has a store, but also decorated very grand, the name is a bit strange, the United States of California. Ramen is a Chinese invention, why has it become American? Ramen is the best in Lanzhou, why the name of California? Am I wrong in my understanding or have I read too little? On the signboard of the California Beef Noodle House, there is a portrait next to the big letters. The portrait is of a gentleman, wearing a pair of glasses and so well-mannered that when I first looked at it I thought it was a college professor, probably the owner's avatar. The owner looked Chinese, probably because he introduced ramen to the U.S. For the U.S., beef noodles are supposed to be imported. What I saw may be imported out and back again, I don't know if it is the unbroken hometown roots or the creativity of the operation?

　　After tasting a few times with curiosity, California ramen is not very different from our hometown's, no matter the shape or taste is similar. The California beef noodle bowl is particularly large, with very little ramen, while the ramen in my hometown is a large bowl full of noodles; the beef in California beef noodles is a piece by piece, although it is a few pieces, but square and square, sitting in the bowl of ramen, bullish, full of faction, which is the minced beef in my hometown ramen can not be compared. The price is also not comparable, in front of others is really insignificant, said even people's waiters will laugh out loud.

　　Although there are differences, but all of them are my favorite, every time I eat, eat noodles and drink soup, a sweep. Although I like, there are more than I like, once when eating noodles, a young man sitting across from me, still looks somewhat civilized. I just picked up my chopsticks and suddenly heard the sound of "giggling" and took a peek across the room, using the heat to describe the sight of the man eating noodles is not too much, a head of hot sweat, chopsticks flying. The young man across the street looked very unsteady, sometimes looking up at the ceiling, as if he was scalded by the ramen; sometimes looking down slowly, his mouth kept smashing, as if there was an endless aftertaste; the soup looked unbearable, listening to the sound could give people a wonderful fantasy, thinking he had fallen into wonderland. At the time I thought he was eating different noodles than I was, but the check was the same. I must admit that what I ate did not smell as good as what he ate.

　　Now I have eaten the real Lanzhou ramen, the ramen is strong and smooth, the noodle soup is fragrant and unctuous, the beef is cooked and mellow. After eating Lanzhou beef noodles, I feel a lot of emotions, the ramen in my home county in the early years can not be compared with it, and the beef noodles in California can not be compared with it. I think the gentleman with glasses on the signboard of the California noodle shop probably thought the same thing.