Yǒnghóng Cuōyúzi

Dunhuang


A bowl of these fish-shaped noodles (搓鱼子, cuōyúzi) puts a spring in your step. Located on Speciality Snack Street off Mingshan Lu in the centre of town, it's a small family-run operation. The name of the restaurant alone is great – owned by someone called Yonghong (永红), one of those classic first names from the days of the Cultural Revolution which means 'Eternally Red'.

There's a wealth of dishes on the menu, while the fish-shaped noodles come either plain and in soup (汤搓鱼子, tāng cuōyúzi; ¥10) or with chicken (鸡肉搓鱼子; jīròu cuōyúzi; ¥16), lamb (羊肉搓鱼子, yángròu cuōyúzi; ¥18) or donkey (驴肉搓鱼子, lǘròu cuōyúzi; ¥26).