Jason Wang - Xi’an Famous Foods: The Cuisine of Western China, from New York’s Favorite Noodle Shop

A YOUNG JASON IN CHINA, PREPARING FOR HIS ADVENTURE ABROAD.

If youre a food fan in New York City, you might already know a bit about the Xian Famous foods story. It goes a little like this: In the winter of 2005, a hardworking immigrant named David Shi (aka my dad) opened a shop in Flushing, New York, to sell boba, or bubble teayou know, those chewy tapioca pearls plopped into a mixture of sugar, powdered tea, and water, sometimes with flavored syrup for that fake mango taste. But in New York City, even back then, bubble tea shops were a dime a dozen, and competition was fierce. So my dad, ever the hustler, pivoted. He rented a tiny little space and started selling the food of our hometown: Xian, China.

The rest, as they say, is history. Word on the street started to spread about the man in a tiny basement stall banging out noodles and other cheap street eats rarely seen this side of the Pacific. Were talking chewy, cold ribbons of liang pidoused in a spicy, bright vinegar sauce, fresh-pulled biang-biangnoodles with a heat so intense it makes you sweat, and caramelized pork stuffed between flatbread, easy enough to eat with one hand while swiping your MTA card, running to catch the next train. Customers took notice, and the food soon outsold the boba. People were lining up to scarf down the noodles, slurping up the leftover sauce just to make sure they didnt waste a single drop. Then, the camera crews showed up. Anthony Bourdain dropped by, as did Andrew Zimmern, along with the food bloggers of Chowhound and Serious Eats, New Yorkmagazine and the New York Times. And then, more camera crews, more food bloggers, more celebrities. The cycle continued; business boomed. Lines stretched around the basement food court, up the stairs, and around the street corner. Expansion seemed like a no-brainer, so after college, I signed on to helm the XFF empire, putting the dishes of my childhood on Americas culinary map like never before.

Its a good story. But like most American dreams, the beginnings of Xian Famous Foods started long before that.

Our first stop, of course, is in Xian, a dry, dusty city in northwestern China. In the past, it held a coveted status as the capital of multiple ancient Chinese dynasties, and as the start of the Silk Road, Xian became an epicenter of trade that connected China with the Middle East, bringing an influx of people into the cityand their food. While coastal cities like Guangzhou and Fuzhou developed regional dishes with crab, shrimp, and fish, Xian took on the flavors and ingredients of western China and the Middle East. This meant gamey lamb, not often seen in some regions of China, and earthy spices like cardamom and star anise. This is my city of fiery desert food, and this is where Im born. On weekdays, Im playing hide-and-seek in (seemingly) cavernous apartment complexes, eating lamb soup dotted with broken-up bits of bread for lunch. On weekends, Im sitting on my dads bicycle handlebars, riding to the street markets where shop owners peddle stick-skinny skewers and rou jia mou(burgers).

I see charcoal smoke and smell spicy cumin lamb and eat rough, ragged street noodles swimming in bright red chili, my senses on overload, tingling from peppercorn.

But then we do a full 180. When Im eight years old, my parents announce a move to America for a better education, a better future. Im excited, expecting annual trips to Disneyland and a magical elixir known as hot chocolate (Starbucks hadnt made it to Xian just yet). Were dropped into the snowy woods of Michigan, and I see my childhood of concrete and smoke replaced with cookie-cutter houses, painted red and blue and yellow, with porches and lawns and the tallest oak and evergreen trees Id ever seen.