Yokohama's Chinatown: Mystery Dish

[Lisa Shock]

Last year, when I visited Tokyo and Yokohama, a friend took me quickly through Yokohama's China town. As we walked down a crowded street, I saw a restaurant with a video display sign showing various dishes being prepared and scenes of the dining room. I did not have time to get my camera out or really to even read the signage, I got pulled onward down the street and couldn't stop.

One scene showed a chef with a long, beige, oval shaped object on his shoulder -being held a bit like a violin. This object was the size and shape of a whole provolone cheese or a really long gourd: almost a meter long, at least 20cm in diameter, and evenly beige in color. It may have been dough, but, if so, it was very stiff to retain such a shape. He held a knife and was chipping shavings off the object and the strips were falling into a large bubbling vat of liquid.

Can anyone identify this dish? I would greatly appreciate any clues!

[Hiroyuki]

You mean Dāoxiāomiàn (刀削麺) in Chinese, or toushoumen in Japanese?

Images of toushoumen

[Lisa Shock]

Oh yes, thank you so much!