Story 1

In ancient times, the Zhou people moved from Bin (bīn) (today's Bin County and Xunyi area, Shaanxi Province) to Qizhi Zhouyuan (today's Qishan County, Baoji, Shaanxi Province). It thrives along the Wei River and in the Northern Plains. Later, there was an evil dragon in the Wei River that caused disaster. There was a severe drought for three years, and the people were in dire straits. The Zhou clan couldn't bear to leave their homeland that they had developed over generations, so they fought back and fought for seven days before killing the evil dragon. To celebrate their victory, the hungry people killed the dragon and ate it together with noodles, which they found extremely delicious. So when celebrating this victory in the future, pigs were used instead of dragons and noodles to eat together. Later it expanded to other festivals and sacrifices. This steamed rice noodles gradually spread, and its cooking method also gradually spread and developed.

The second statement

Mr. Li Xinru of Qishan Cultural Center also wrote a special booklet called "The Food of Qishan Saucy Noodles". According to his research, the steamed noodles originated from the final etiquette of the corpse sacrifice system in the Zhou Dynasty, that is, worshiping the gods and ancestors first, then the rest will be given to the kings and ministers, and finally to ordinary people. This custom has existed in Qishan for a long time. No matter who is holding weddings or weddings, the first bowl of steamed noodles is not served at the banquet. Instead, the junior brings it out and pours the soup twice, symbolizing sacrifice to the gods of heaven and earth. The remaining soup is called a blessing. After pouring water on the ancestral spirit tablet in the main hall, the meal is served in order of generation and status. In the past, the leftover soup from eating noodles could not be thrown away and had to be returned to the pot. That is to say, it takes the meaning of the word "Yu" in "Junyu". Saozi noodles are a casual meal for entertaining guests in Qishan and Guanzhong areas. It is usually served to guests when a new wife comes to visit, a child’s birthday, or an old man’s birthday.

The third statement

It comes from the "longevity noodles" of Tang Dynasty. Saozi noodles were developed on the basis of longevity noodles in the Tang Dynasty. "Yi Jue Liao Miscellaneous Notes" says: People in the Tang Dynasty often have soup cakes on their birthdays. They are longevity noodles used by royal relatives to celebrate their birthdays. They are also the so-called "longevity noodles" in the world. Liu Yuxi, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, has a poem that goes: I am a guest at the table, holding up chopsticks to eat soup cakes. Foods such as noodles were called soup cakes in the Tang Dynasty. The soup cake mentioned in Liu's poem is longevity noodles. It was the best place to entertain guests in the Tang Dynasty. According to legend, when Su Dongpo was an official in Shaanxi, he especially liked to eat this kind of noodles and wrote a poem praising it: I wanted to be a soup cake customer, but I was worried about writing the deer book by mistake. According to historical facts, saozi meat appeared in the Northern Song Dynasty. "Mengliang Lu" records that there are shops that specialize in processing and selling saozi meat. However, it is still unknown whether the steamed noodles had already appeared at that time. In the Ming Dynasty, Gao Lian recorded the method of steamed pork noodles in "Eight Notes of Zunsheng", so it can be said with certainty that steamed noodles had already appeared at least before Gao Lian wrote this book.

Saozi noodles are highly valued in Shaanxi. In addition to following the custom of longevity noodles in the Tang Dynasty, such as eating it on birthdays, it is also used to entertain guests at every wedding, funeral, or festival. In the old days, there was a custom in rural Shaanxi: on the day after a new daughter-in-law's arrival, a grand dough-rolling ceremony would be held at her husband's house. The new daughter-in-law would roll the noodles in front of the guests to test her skills. Only those with high skills can roll out the noodles to an even thickness, cut them into long and thin strips, and not break when put into the pot. Only such new wives can win everyone's praise.