Gansu Spicy Noodles Trend Online, This Ingredient Is the Soul of the Dish!

Potatoes, the soul of Gansu spicy hot pot,

The long-awaited prosperity has finally come to Gansu cuisine!

Recently, Gansu spicy hot pot has frequently trended online, with many foodie "special forces" traveling thousands of miles to Tianshui just to try it. Even the shipment volume of Gangu chili peppers has surged fivefold. Locals in Gansu have rolled out the red carpet for visitors, arranging dedicated shuttle services at Tianshui Airport solely to transport tourists for spicy hot pot.

But in truth, Gansu’s culinary delights go far beyond spicy hot pot. So, which food best represents Gansu?

To outsiders, Gansu’s diet seems forever dominated by "noodles, noodles, noodles"—Lanzhou’s beef noodles, Tianshui’s fermented noodle soup, Dunhuang’s donkey meat yellow noodles... Beyond noodles, there are also various steamed buns, griddle cakes, and breads, with so many varieties that it’s hard to pick a single staple to represent Gansu.

What about beef and lamb? Gansu people do love grilled meat and hand-torn mutton, but compared to "meat giants" like Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, and Qinghai, they don’t hold a clear advantage.

The food that best represents Gansu must be ubiquitous—from Dunhuang in the west, to Lanzhou in the center, and Tianshui and Longnan in the east and south. It’s something Gansu people might eat three times a day, earning unanimous agreement across the province. After much thought, there’s likely only one candidate—

Potatoes, also known as spuds, but to Gansu people, the most affectionate name is "yangyu" (洋芋). It’s no exaggeration to say they hold up half of Gansu’s culinary scene.

In the daily diet of Gansu people, potatoes sometimes take center stage—boiled for breakfast, roasted for lunch, stir-fried for dinner—and other times play a supporting role, blended into noodles, mixed with meat, or transformed into vermicelli... Eating potatoes three times a day in countless variations is just part of life in Gansu.

Gansu is a major potato-growing province in China, with four key production zones spanning from Hexi to Longnan.

"Gansu’s potato lovers would rather eat potatoes than rice"—while this saying is a bit exaggerated, it reflects how deeply potatoes are cherished in Gansu. In the past, when meat and fresh vegetables were scarce, without these humble tubers, Gansu people might have had to eat plain noodles. Even today, with much richer diets, potatoes still firmly hold the spotlight on Gansu dining tables.

The "N Ways" to Eat Gansu Potatoes

The ways to prepare potatoes are endless. They can be enjoyed "gently"—cooled, stewed, or stir-fried, hearty as chunks or crisp as shreds. Or they can be enjoyed "boldly"—steamed, boiled, grilled, mashed, or pounded, offering infinite variations. Extracted into starch, they undergo a glamorous transformation, becoming vermicelli that pairs seamlessly with vegetables and meat, or shines as a spicy, oily delicacy.

Every Gansu household has its own "potato playbook." Even the simplest sour-spicy potato shreds vary in flavor from home to home—thickness, crispness, and seasoning all leave a lasting impression. A plate of potato shreds with flatbread or steamed buns, tangy and appetizing, is the most common potato dish in Gansu (and likely across China).

Of course, Gansu also boasts many regional potato specialties. In Minxian, on the edge of the Tibetan Plateau, potatoes are used to make "niangpi"—shredded, ground into starch, squeezed dry, steamed into cakes, and then stir-fried, yielding a soft yet chewy texture with a unique potato-starch flavor enhanced by rapeseed oil, even hinting at meatiness.

Tianshui has its own "potato jelly"—Ran Ran, made by mixing potato starch with boiling water, stirring until translucent, cooling, and then slicing for cold dishes, resulting in a tender bite. In Tianshui and Longnan, kids love potato balls, dipped hot in garlic sauce—springy, smooth, and tender. Leftovers can be sliced or diced and stir-fried for another delicious meal.

Yangyu Bula, the culinary art of blending potatoes and flour.

Pairing potatoes with wheat creates distinct flavors. In Qingyang, Gansu, Yangyu Bula involves coating potato strips with salt and flour, steaming them, and then stir-frying with seasonings for an even tastier result.

Even simple potato slices can be dressed up—Lanzhou’s Masan potato chips win fans with their thin crispiness and spicy chili oil, while neighboring Linxia’s Dongxiang-style features thick slices stir-fried with bell peppers and onions in a special sauce, balancing softness and crispiness for a perfect rice companion.

Extracting starch to make vermicelli marks the start of potatoes’ glamorous makeover. As a side, they complement main dishes without overpowering them, adding a springy texture—think stir-fried vermicelli with cabbage and pork, braised pork with noodles, or hot pot potato noodles. Hand-pulled and wide vermicelli are stars in spicy hot pot, with chewy, sauce-drenched wide noodles offering irresistible satisfaction.

No matter how trendy the preparation or how fancy the seasoning, the original taste of potatoes never goes out of style. Whether boiled at home or roasted in the fields, whole potatoes are a beloved way of eating for the people of Gansu.

When boiling potatoes, adults prefer them "burst open," while children enjoy a slightly charred crust for an extra toasty aroma. The dense texture and simplest flavor warm the heart. Paired with some pickles, fresh scallions, or just-picked sour vegetables from the fermentation jar, a few potatoes can make a satisfying meal.

During the potato harvest season, farmers' midday meal is roasted potatoes. They build a simple "earth oven" (also called a qiong pot), pile up dry clods of earth, light a fire to heat them, then add the potatoes, letting the scorching clods fully envelop them before sealing the top with damp soil. Once the wet soil on top dries, the potatoes are ready.

The roasted potatoes are crispy outside and tender inside, with a natural earthy aroma. When broken open, the starch granules inside glisten like sugar crystals, offering a sweet, sandy texture.

The people of Longnan have an even more "bold" way of handling potatoes: potato dough—washed, boiled, peeled, cooled, pounded, and seasoned through six or seven steps. At least two people work together to repeatedly pound the potatoes until the dough becomes stretchy. Time-consuming and labor-intensive, but the resulting potato dough is chewy, resilient, and truly delicious.

Potato dough, a Longnan delicacy "pounded" into existence.

Potato dough can be eaten cold, dipped in a sour soup mixed with seasonings, making it spicy and flavorful with a lingering aftertaste. It can also be eaten hot, cut into small pieces and simmered in broth for a soft, warm bite. In summer, a spoonful of refreshing fermented juice turns it into an authentic cool snack. Dingxi, the most "Gansu" place, grows the best potatoes in the province.

If Lanzhou mornings smell of beef noodles, Dingxi mornings belong to potato "gege." "Gege" is the local pronunciation for "corners," and potato gege is Dingxi's version of leek pockets, with the filling swapped for potatoes—a double dose of carb joy. Roll out the dough, wrap the filling, pinch a pretty edge, and Dingxi life unfolds in the aroma of potatoes.

Potato gege, Dingxi's leek pockets, also resemble oversized dumplings.

Beyond potato gege, if you see dishes like potato "chacha," potato "qunqun," or potato "rourou" in Dingxi, witness terraced fields where "potato blossoms rival peonies," spot purple, red, or "Black Beauty" potatoes, or encounter mountains and seas of tubers everywhere, don’t be surprised. Some say Dingxi folks eat potatoes daily, every meal—if not whole potatoes, then potato noodles. This isn’t an exaggeration; Dingxi is truly a paradise for potatoes.

One of China’s top three potato-producing regions, the largest virus-free seed potato breeding base, a major commercial potato production hub, and a processing center for potato products—all are part of Dingxi’s "Potato Capital" identity. With over 3 million mu (500,000 acres) of potato fields, nearly a third of Gansu’s total, and an annual yield exceeding 5 million tons—close to half of Gansu’s output—Dingxi leads nationwide in potato production.

Dingxi’s Anding District and Weiyuan County are respectively the "Hometown of Chinese Potatoes" and the "Hometown of Chinese Potato Seeds." Dingxi potatoes are not only vast in scale and high in yield but also top-tier in quality—large, smooth-skinned, high in starch, and delicious. Whether it’s Lanzhou’s Masan potato chips or fast-food fries abroad, most use potatoes from Dingxi.

Why is Dingxi, with its poor soil and arid climate, a natural haven for potatoes?

Located where the Tibetan Plateau meets the Loess Plateau, Dingxi’s diverse and complex terrain offers potatoes everything from "nurseries" to "sickrooms" to "bedrooms." The dry, rain-scarce climate aids potato respiration and growth, with summer rains perfectly timed for "growth spurts." For good looks, trace elements are essential—Dingxi’s thick, loose soil is rich in potassium, ideal for potato nutrition.

In September 2020, Dingxi hosted the China Potato Conference alongside a potato cuisine exhibition.

Once the "lifesaving potato," now the "golden egg," Dingxi people have transformed this once "uninhabitable" land into today’s "Potato Capital of China" by terracing fields and expanding and improving cultivation, thanks to its unique geography and climate.

Dingxi has hosted the China Potato Conference for years. At the conference, you’ll find staple products like potato steamed buns, biscuits, and noodles, as well as a 108-dish "General’s Feast"—potato shark fin, turtle and potato rice, tai chi potato soup, potato sashimi, potato pizza, potato ice cream...

In Dingxi, you’ll often hear the joke: "Dingxi has three treasures: tudou, yangyu, and malingshu (all meaning potato)." Extend this to all of Gansu, and it’s no exaggeration. As ancestors in hungry times said, "Gansu people owe their lives to potatoes"—a statement that still holds true today.

Why are potatoes the most "Gansu" food?

The variety of names for a food reflects its widespread and versatile use, and Gansu’s potatoes are no exception. Beyond "tudou" and "malingshu," more familiar to outsiders, locals call them mountain yam beans, ground bread, earth eggs, taro babies, or even "global communicator." The name "yangyu" can also be made cuter: "little potato balls."

Potatoes are a "Gansu impression." Eating potatoes is so commonplace that if you ask any Gansu local, their family will have at least one relative who loves them—or it might just be themselves. Similarly, in rural Gansu, almost every household has at least one cellar for storing potatoes. With it, Gansu people can enjoy potatoes year-round without worry.

Potatoes are also a "Gansu philosophy." The phrase "This person is such a big potato" can be used to either praise or insult someone. Meaningless things are called "no-potato" affairs; unprofitable business is "no-potato" business; a dull person might be called "just like a potato." Mothers scolding mischievous children might joke, "Keep causing trouble, and I’ll smack your potato head!" In short, without potatoes, Gansu people would not only feel gastronomically lonely but also find their speech lacking something.

Outsiders often call Gansu locals "potato eggs," and even if there’s a hint of mockery, they just laugh it off. Even when annoyed, they won’t stop eating potatoes—even joking, "Gansu potato eggs, good at eating and working!" There are many sayings, like "Gansu has three treasures: potatoes, clay pots, and fur coats." Gansu girls are described as "rosy-cheeked with a potato in their arms." Even in Lanzhou, where "beef noodles reign supreme," a popular saying goes, "Sheepskin rafts outpace warships, and clay pots boil potato eggs."

Growing, eating, and talking about potatoes—they’ve long been woven into Gansu life. Potatoes are both the "clods of earth" that shape the most authentic, simple "Gansu flavor" and the "golden eggs" that pile up into "mountains and seas of tubers," lifting locals out of poverty.

Gansu people share a unique bond with potatoes—one that’s hard to put into words. But if there’s one line everyone would nod to, it’s probably this:

The 25 million people of Gansu are all children raised by potatoes.