In a small and spotless noodle joint in tiny Qingxi village, two giggly young women make us qiaomian, the buckwheat (aka soba) noodles that are a specialty of this region, about 200km southwest of Chengdu.

First, a chunk of thick, yellowy-brown buckwheat dough is pushed through a press into a pot of boiling water.

Once cooked till al dente, the noodles are drained and added to a bowl already containing some boiled cabbage, broth and other flavourings (such as chilli oil and vinegar), and is topped with some squishy wan dou, a bean product sold alongside the tofu in markets, that is a little like well-cooked chickpeas.

The resulting dish was fantastic – simple, hearty flavours, the noodles just the right side of stodgy but also surprisingly light. A perfect start to our Sichuan Pepper Day (move of still to come…)

PS. The girls who made the noodles also called them ‘Zaza’ noodles, which I haven’t been able to find a translation for, but I think refers to the method of pushing dough through a press. Can anyone out there verify my guess?