Chopin Noodle House

12123 Darnestown Rd, Gaithersburg, MD 20878

(240) 477-4235

5514 Baltimore National Pike, Catonsville, MD 21228

(443) 636-5573

The combination of graceful piano and the impressive Lanzhou Beef Noodle Soup seems strange. Yang Zi, the owner of the Chopin Noodle House in Maryland, was actually a national level-2 noodle chef and music teacher from Lanzhou, a perfect illustration of clash of professions.

 

At Chopin Noodle House, diners are able to enjoy cuisines, often with a high-caliber live piano performance. It seems that the place is a natural destination for the balance of art and the hustle and bustle of the city life, tradition and modernity, and vigor and delicacy.

Staying True to Traditions

The owner Yang Zi is an authentic native of Lanzhou who unwaveringly stays true to his purpose and beliefs and ensures all offerings stick to traditions. Every preparation step from ingredient selection, noodle pulling, seasoning to cooking is aimed at reproducing the authentic flavors of the Northwest China. Reluctant to make any compromise or renovation, the restaurant is committed to bringing 100% of the taste and techniques remembered by diners from generation to generation. Some would say that such persistence is just an obsession. But to Yang Zi’s mind, what he sticks to is actually the unique characteristics of the Lanzhou people - purity, sincerity and conviction.

 

The signature offering Traditional Beef Noodle Soup is prepared completely in accordance with traditional methods. The soup, the most critical component of Lanzhou Beef Noodle Soup, adopts traditional soup seasoning recipe containing more than 40 herbs along with beef, beef bones and tallow without any pre-prepared sauce packets. The soup making process lasts days to ensure “complete clarity”. The beef soup slowly simmering on gentle heat not only has rich and flavorful tastes, but it is also very nutritional, offering the highest sincerity of the restaurant.

The noodle making process from hand kneading, pulling to the throwing noodles into wok filled with soup stock is arguably completed at one go, resulting in a chewy and smooth quality despite different choices of thicknesses. Complemented by the tender beef,  white radish, green coriander, garlic sprouts and the red hot chili oil made from chili grown in Gangu, Gansu Province- the “Home to Chinese Chili”, the Traditional Beef Noodle Soup featuring “One Clear(soup), Two White(radish slices), Three Red(chili oil), Four Greens(coriander)” is officially completed.  

 

The smiles appearing on the faces of streams of diners who have heartily enjoyed a bowl of noodles are the best evidence for not only the satisfaction of their taste buds but also their memories of home faraway. At this moment, what the chef is preparing is not just noodles but also mom’s delicious diner, the medicine that cures homesickness and the ticket to a ship sailing towards home, where the affections and connections can never be severed even if they are now on the other side of the ocean.

 

Love at Heart

 

Despite living far away from home, the Yang Zi couple have never forgotten their hometown - not only in terms of the cuisines but also the future of the Chinese people. With selfless love and dedication, they engage themselves in “Project Volunteer Online”, a charitable cause. Since 2022, they have been providing remote music courses for kids in Yunnan Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture with a vision of lighting up the life of every young man with art.

 

Launched in July 2014., the “Project Volunteer Online” adopts the sophisticated Internet technology in remote teaching to provide real-time, interactive courses for rural elementary schools in remote areas, helping relieve the scarcity of teaching resources and enrich students’ life.   

 

Education is one tree shaking another tree, one cloud to pushing forward another cloud, one soul awakening another soul. The Yang Zi couple not only actively participate in the project themselves, but they also put up a poster with introduction and the QR code of the “Project Volunteer Online” in their restaurant to guide more loving and capable Chinese to join the project and cultivate more Chopin-like individuals for all industries in China.