Noodles & staples · Chongqing
Chongqing Xiao Mian
重庆小面 — Chongqing’s breakfast institution: alkaline noodles in a swamp of chili oil, sesame paste, preserved greens and pea or minced-pork toppings — ordered with a…
Ordering xiao mian properly means specifying in shorthand: "mian qing" (light on base sauce), "shao shui" (less water), "jia qing" (fewer toppings), and your heat level. The bowl is assembled in seconds — noodles blanched, sauce swirled, toppings (wanza: peas plus pork mince) spooned over — and eaten standing up.
The canonical version is wanza noodles — soft stewed yellow peas plus fried mince — and the benchmark shops are tiny storefront operations with plastic stools. Two or three dollars buys the defining taste of the city that also gave you hotpot.
Where to eat it
- Huashi Wanza Noodles (Chongqing benchmark)
- Morning noodle shops around Jiefangbei
Named tables that do it well
- Peijie Old Hotpot — Local Institution
- Huashi Wanza Noodles — Local Institution
Routes that eat their way here
More dishes to know
- Zhajiang Noodles (炸酱面)
- Dan Dan Noodles (担担面)
- Claypot Rice (煲仔饭)
- Wonton Noodles (云吞面)
- Biangbiang Noodles (biángbiáng面)
- Xinjiang Polo (Hand-Pulled Rice) (抓饭)