Biang biang noodles — Biángbiáng miàn

 Made up of 58 strokes, the Chinese character for “biáng” is the most complex Chinese characters in contemporary usage, although the character is not found in modern dictionaries or even in the Kangxi dictionary. 

 

Biáng biáng noodles (pinyin: biángbiángmiàn), are a type of noodle popular in China’s Shaanxi province, in the middle of China. The noodles, touted as one of the “ten strange wonders of Shaanxi” , are described as being like a belt, due to their thickness and length. The “Noodle King” chain in Beijing serves biáng biáng noodles.

The noodle is broad and hand-made and is topped with lots of red hot peppers for the cold winter in Shaanxi. It was a poor-man’s meal in the countryside, but has recently become popular in trendy restaurants due to its weird character name.