Liangpi

Liangpi is a Chinese dish composed of cold noodles made from wheat or rice flour. It is a specialty dish originating from the cuisine of Shaanxi Province, but has now spread throughout China. In northwestern areas of China, it is often called liangpi zi (凉皮子). Although liangpi is served cold, they are served in every season, including winter. During the reign of Qin Shi Huang, each village and county had to pay tribute to the court every year. The annual tribute item in Shaanxi Province was rice. Here, people produced the most quality and delicious japonica rice at that time. However, because of a severe drought, the peasants could not bring grain to the imperial court. So the people went to a local squire for help and advice. After thoughtful consideration, the squire decided to use the old rice left over from the first year to make a tribute to the court. They soaked the old rice overnight, and then ground it into a slurry with stone, after precipitation, they filtered the rice milk and steamed it on the steamer. After cooking, people tasted the cooled rice skin and felt full of praise. The texture was smooth, tender, and fragrant. After that, people used seasonings on the cold skin noodles, including chili, vinegar, sesame, salt, and soy sauce unexpectedly, which eventually came as liangpi. Later, people offered liangpi as a tribute to Qin Shi Huang’s taste. After taking a bite, Qin Shi Huang felt the hot and sour taste refreshing, tender and smooth, and very delicious, so he decided to take Shaanxi Liangpi as an annual royal tribute. Since then, liangpi has become popular in the province, and has become a unique Shaanxi snack!

Source: Wikipedia