China serves some of the best flour-based foods in the world; and Shanxi ranks first in China in preparing “flour foods”. Shanxi Province has a recorded history dating back more than 2,000 years of making wheat-flour food, due to bumper wheat harvests resulting partly from rich experience in cultivation. Shanxi province boasts nearly 1,000 kinds of flour foods, made with a wide variety of materials. In Shanxi, flour serves as a staple food, snack and even art.

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There are a great number of flour-based dishes, such as Shanxi sliced noodles in minced meat soup (Daoxiao Mian, 刀削面), steamed highland barley cakes (Mao Erduo, 猫耳朵), boiled dough sticks with sauce (Ti Jian, 剔尖) and fish-shaped noodles made with scissors (Jiandao Mian, 剪刀面), all of which demand their own unique eating style. They can all be eaten either with light or mutton soup, mixed with sauce, or stir-fried.