NOTD #3: Spicy Potato Starch Noodles

One of my favorite things about Beijing is the fact that China's many (and extremely varied) regional cuisines are all on display here. On my first day here, I had lunch at a Hunanese restaurant around the corner from my house. Hunanese food (湘菜）is spicy and delicious--beyond that, I don't know much about it, so just read the Wikipedia article linked above.

Potato starch noodles--transparent, slightly gelatinous, chewy--are hard to find in the U.S. I wish this would change, as I find them totally addictive regardless of how they're prepared. Thursday's preparation was 沙锅薯粉条 (sand pot sweet potato powder noodle? I understand why the English translations in Chinese restaurant menus are generally so absurd...), which consisted of noodles, strips of egg, and ground pork in a chili-spiked broth:

Also, that bowl is about a foot across. I am still working on the leftovers.