Why is there a kind of noodles called Aozao noodles in Suzhou? I feel this name is very strange.
There have always been different opinions about the word "Aozao". Legend has it that when Emperor Qianlong traveled incognito to the south of the Yangtze River, he was hungry after visiting the scenery of Yufeng Mountain through Kunshan, so he came to this small noodle restaurant and ate a bowl of fried fish noodles with red oil. He thought it was delicious and asked the eunuch to inquire about the cooking method. However, due to the language, the eunuch seemed to understand, but he used his quick wits to play: "The red oil noodles taste good, mainly because of the mystery on the noodle stove." When Qianlong heard this, he laughed and said, "The noodle stove is mysterious, the mysterious noodle stove." Since then, this small noodle restaurant has had the reputation of "Aozao noodles". A more credible statement is: Yanfuxing noodle restaurant is small and old, black and long; Chen Xiuying is old, slow-witted, and careless, so he is nicknamed "the bad side" by diners. Salt stove is Kunshan dialect, which means it is not very clean. Who knew that this strange name actually made it spread like wildfire.