Guilin Spicy Paste Noodles

Guilin Spicy Paste Noodles is a "heart-warming spicy noodle" in winter, featuring thick spicy paste—spicy and satisfying. To make it, garlic, dried chili, and bean paste are stir-fried in lard, added with a little water to form a paste (hence "paste"), then mixed with cooked noodles to coat evenly, finally sprinkled with scallions. The key is "spicy but not harsh": thick paste coats noodles, first spicy then sweet, no soup but not dry—more fragrant as you eat. Thick alkaline noodles are used, stir-resistant, locking in the paste. Old 街区 (jiēqū, neighborhoods) have stalls with sizzling 翻炒 (fānchǎo, stir-frying) and enticing aroma. A hot bowl with soy milk chases winter cold—locals' "cold-relief magic." Foreigners will be drawn to the rich paste, finding it like "Chinese dry spicy noodles"—simple, warm, and comfortably spicy.