A Taste of Soup Noodle in Luzhou

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Damiaokou Soup Noodle Shop

A Delicious Meal in Hard Times
Records of an Interview with Damiaokou Soup Noodle Shop

Damiaokou Soup Noodle shop was a traditional noodle shop which was closest to Lu Jiang Elementary School. Without special decoration, Mr. Chou showed us the meaning of thriving business and customers in an endless stream with his kind smile and unique skills. The only ways to gain good word of mouth from customers were whole-heartedness, sincerity, and excellent techniques.

The Story of Damiaokou Soup Noodle Shop A Successor of Wan-pao Yang
When our team members arrived at the gate of Damiaokou Soup Noodle Shop, we were greeted by the amiable smile of Mr. Chien-kun Chou, the shop owner. He ushered us in with hospitality. After we just sat down, he began told us the story long ago that, "Mr. Wan-pao Yang, my predecessor, came back from Kyoto and opened a noodle stall near Luzhou Yonglian Temple..."Mr. Yang Wan-pao was born in 1911.
From selling noodles after coming back from the battlefield to today, over 80 years passed. 50 or 60 years ago, Mr. Chun-cheng Li, his uncle took over the business till 40 years ago. The place where he ran his shop was demolished, so they moved here. Damiaokou (literally, the gate of a big temple) referred to the original place of his shop. Over 30 years passed from the move. Mr. Chou, at the age of thirty, learned the business from his uncle and ante. Later, the business was handed over to him.

Q: Mr. Chou, how can an old shop for years maintain its most ancient taste rather than change along with the times?
A: We have never changed our soup which is stewed with the earliest method. Our next generation will inherit the same technique. Now, many shops have changed the taste of their soups to be lighter and clearer. Comparatively speaking, our soup is more strong and thick with good smell of pork as we follow the most ancient methods of cooking.
Some customers come to our shop after lunch time because the later, the stronger the soup is. They love the strong and thick taste of the soup!

Q: Mr. Chou, customers swarm to your shop during meal time. Are they regular customers or from other sources?
A: Regular customers introduce new ones here. And the new ones become our regular customers later. Local people introduce people outside here. We use our traditional techniques to keep the customers, which is a type of inheritance.

Q: Mr. Chou, you have shared with us you business experience of Soup Noodle shop. Are you stalls confident about the passing down of Luzhou Soup Noodle?
A: Yes. Of course! As long as we are willing to do so with our integrity and acceptance of customers’ demands. We shall humbly accept any suggestions by customers and make immediate improvement. I believe that if our customers can feel our sincerity and efforts, they will come here again. We have learned a lot from the interaction with customers. In our business, we pay our attention to the ideas of customers which add a sense of modernity to the traditional noodle shop.



The Signature Appetizers of Damiaokou Soup Noodle Shop

Q: Mr. Chou, do the appetizers in your shop retain the features in the past?
A: Our signature appetizers, such as streaky pork, have the same cooking methods as those in the past. But in the past, we had more types of appetizers. Later, we replaced some, such as pig head skin, pig tails, and so on because it was not easy to clean the pig hair. We were afraid that customers might eat unclean things, so we stopped selling them.
A: In fact, besides our efforts to cooking noodles, we are also very careful about the cutting, cooking, heat, and time of the appetizers. The precise control of the steps is based on the accumulation of experiences. That's what distinguishes us from the others.

We See the Inheritance of Damiaokou Soup Noodle

Q: How shall the new generation treat tradition and history? How can we carry forward the delicacy?
A: I hope that in the future Luzhou Soup Noodle can be as famous as Japanese Lamian and spread to every corner of the world. However, we still need to make improvement in many aspects. First of all, we must reinforce the basis of tradition. Then, we can add new attempts, such as ingredients, types of appetizers, more flavors created in combination with the preference of the majority with the other Soup Noodle shops in Luzhou, and overall promotion and marketing. I truly hope Luzhou Soup Noodle can distinguish itself from all the Soup Noodles in other regions so that Taiwan even the whole world will know the extraordinary Luzhou Soup Noodle.