beef noodle soup

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I love niu ro mian (beef noodle soup). Few scents in this world are as intrusive; just thinking about the smell takes me back to my childhood days, when the savory odor would drift from my mom's kitchen and overwhelm my olfactory. To me, eating niu ro mian brings about the same timeless, ubiquitous excitement of a new package of pop rocks, yet I approach each bowl much the way I handle a Philly cheesesteak: by cautiously inspecting for authenticity. I will venture to say that I am less discriminating to taste and odor when I face dive into a girl's crotch than when suspending my nose above a vat of beefy goodness.

Niu ro mian has been around in Chinese cuisine forever, but apparently it did not become a popular tradition until Kuomintang folks brought it to Taiwan, where many variations were born. In fact, it's so popular now that a whole two-month festival is dedicated to the dish. There is a niu ro mian cooking competition and an entire two-day convention in November. I would not miss it for the world.



A few days ago I went to Lao Dong, which made it onto the last year's list of Taipei's top 20 beef noodle shops. It looks good, don't it? Unfortunately, it was marginal. First, the soup was nearly flavorless. I mean, it tasted like beef stock, but very plain: not salty, spicy, oily, garlicky. Secondly, they used plain-jane machine cut flour noodles (think Ramen!). They get a from this diner.