🍽️ Anyang Pi Zha

Starch-sheet cake, north Henan.

Anyang Pi Zha is a home-style dish from Anyang, Henan, made from glass noodles and starch. Sweet-potato starch is mixed into a batter with softened cooked noodles, scallion and seasoning, then steamed into a solid block and cooled before being sliced or cubed. It can be pan-fried golden on both sides until crisp outside and soft inside, stir-fried with garlic sprouts and meat, or simmered in soups and hot pots. The texture is smooth, chewy and springy, with a mild, enduring taste of starch and noodles that readily soaks up flavors—a northern-Henan way of stretching ingredients. Not fancy at all, it is a common everyday taste on Anyang tables, most appetizing pan-fried to a fragrant crisp.