Lanzhou hand-pulled noodle soups are truly a Bowl of Heaven

The art of hand-pulling noodles is not an easy one to master. You have to be fast, precise and careful, all at the same time. It's a technique that can take years to learn, and it's something that Weijie Wang has spent the last 30 years perfecting.

As the chef at Bowl of Heaven, Wang's hand-pulled noodles are the centrepiece of the restaurant's Lanzhou hand-pulled noodle soups, which feature a fragrant broth, slow-cooked beef and fresh herbs, alongside the noodles.

Bowl of Heaven opened in July of 2024 and is owned and operated by Thomas Yang, Helen He, and their son Eric Yang. Located at 118 21st Street East in the downtown building that formerly housed Lululemon the family did extensive renovations to the space prior to opening the restaurant, which took a full year.

Thomas is from Xinjiang province in China, which is in the northwestern part of the country and neighbours Gansu province, where the capital city of Lanzhou is located. He grew up eating traditional Lanzhou hand-pulled noodle soups.

"He's very used to this sort of food since he was a child," Eric said, translating for his father.

The family came to Saskatoon at different times: Thomas in 2008, Eric in 2011 and Helen in 2013. They opened Bowl of Heaven to showcase traditional Lanzhou dishes, and named it to reflect their love of the cuisine. Their chef, Wang, is from Lanzhou as well.

"Whenever [Thomas] hears something that's associated with the word heaven, he imagines it to be the best thing, right?" Eric said. "So he wants to bring a taste of heaven to earth he wants to show the world how divine our soup can be."

The end result is indeed divine, and the restaurant'ssignature beef noodle soup is incredibly well balanced, topped with fresh herbs for a lovely extra burst of flavour. With the noodles made just a minute or so before a person is served the soup, the end result is a very fresh and filling dish.

What's in a noodle?

Hand-pulling noodles means that the noodles are made entirely by hand and from scratch. The process starts long before any noodles are actually pulled though, with the dough, which has to be just right. The ratios between water and flour has to be perfect, and it can take up to three to four hours for the dough to sit and rest.

"Then our chef will start testing the dough," said Eric."He'll pinch it and stretch it to see how just how viscous it is, and the elasticity of it, and once he feels the dough is ready, then he will start pulling."

Noodles can be pulled into a variety of widths and shapes, all determined by various techniques. Bowl of Heaven offers six noodle options for the restaurant'ssignature soups, including a classic noodle, a thin and flat noodle, a thick and flat noodle, and more. The shape and thickness both have an influence on the noodles' taste.

"The thinner they are, the less viscous and elastic it is, and the wider and the thicker it is, the more chewy and doughy it is. It's very well known in Lanzhou that the thinner it is, the faster you should eat it, because the longer it sits, it'll sort of lose its shape and texture over time, than if it was rounder and thicker," Eric said.

Each time the dough is stretched by pulling it, the amount of noodles doubles, so that through the process of pulling, the noodles continue to multiply until the desired number is reached.

They are made to order in a matter of seconds. It takes Wang less than 30 seconds to pull noodles for one bowl of soup, which isthen cooked fresh and added to the soup bowl.

Lanzhou cuisine at the heart of the menu

The signature beef noodle soup features beef that is simmered in a spiced broth. The broth is made from both meat and bones, most often beef but sometimes bison, too. The noodles are of course an essential part, and then the dish is topped with fresh cilantro, garlic sprouts, leeks and white radish.

No bowl of soup is complete without chili oil either, and Bowl of Heaven makes its chili oil in-house.

"This isn't just any chili oil off the shelf," Eric said. "A lot of ingredients are shipped directly from China, like the [chili] flakes. It's a cool process seeing our chef making the chili oil in this giant pot."

In addition to the restaurant'ssignature noodle soups, itoffers other dishes that are Lanzhou-inspired, including fried lamb ribs, meat skewers, and vegetables dishes, like a smashed cucumber salad. Green tea and bubble tea are also available on the drink menu.

Eric notes that the family is hoping to expand the menu in the future by adding more options that showcase dishes from China's northwestern region.

"[Thomas] wants to incorporate some of his other favourite foods onto the menu, so that more people get to enjoy it and he can share what he loves."

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