One. A Shaxian Snacks Shop Opened Next to Giaogiao, and Marco Asked: Is This China's McDonald's?
In early 2024, a new restaurant opened next to Giaogiao in Florence. The sign had four Chinese characters: 沙县小吃.
Marco passed by and pointed at the sign, asking me: "Coach, what is this?"
"Shaxian snacks."
"What does that mean?"
"A county in China called Shaxian. The people there took their hometown snacks and opened shops all over China."
Marco walked in to take a look. The menu had拌面 (mixed noodles), 扁肉 (flat meat dumplings), 蒸饺 (steamed dumplings), 炖罐 (stewed pots). Each item, converted to euros, cost no more than 3 euros.
He came out and asked me: "Is this China's McDonald's?"
"No."
"Then what is it?"
"This is China's 'anti-McDonald's.'"
"What do you mean?"
"McDonald's is standardized industrial product. Shaxian snacks are standardized handmade product. McDonald's makes hamburgers with machines; Shaxian snacks makes noodles by hand. But both have achieved one thing: no matter which shop you walk into, the taste is the same."
Marco thought about it: "That's impossible. How can handmade food be the same every time?"
"That is the secret of Shaxian snacks."
Two. One Yuan to Enter, Two Yuan to Fill Up, Five Yuan to Eat Well
The first rule of Shaxian snacks is not taste, but price.
In China, whether you are in first-tier Shanghai or third-tier Ganzhou, when you walk into a Shaxian snacks shop, the price of mixed noodles will not exceed 5 yuan RMB. Flat meat dumplings will not exceed 8 yuan. Stewed pots will not exceed 12 yuan.
What does this mean? It means an ordinary Chinese worker can have a hot meal with noodles, meat, and soup for less than 10 yuan.
I have been in Europe for twenty-five years and have never seen such a restaurant. Italian panini cost at least 4 euros (30 yuan) at the cheapest. A McDonald's combo starts at 6 euros (45 yuan). Shaxian snacks' prices are only one-third of theirs.
But Shaxian snacks is not cheap without quality. On the contrary, the quality of Shaxian snacks is 'stable cheapness.'
The Italian chef at Giaogiao went to Shaxian snacks once. He ordered a bowl of mixed noodles. The noodles were hand-pulled, the peanut sauce was freshly ground, and the scallions were freshly chopped. After eating, he said: "This bowl of noodles would sell for 8 euros in Italy. Here it's only 1.5 euros."
"Yes," I said, "because Shaxian snacks' logic is not 'profit maximization,' but 'volume maximization.'"
"Volume?"
"Yes. Shaxian snacks doesn't make money on one order, but on selling 200 orders a day. Making 2 yuan per order, 200 orders is 400 yuan. This is the wisdom of Chinese small business: small profits but quick turnover."
Three. Mixed Noodles: The Simplest Food, the Most Extreme Craft
The soul of Shaxian snacks is a bowl of mixed noodles.
The ingredients are as simple as can be: noodles, peanut sauce, soy sauce, scallions, lard.
But making a good bowl of mixed noodles requires three things.
First, the noodles must be alkaline noodles. Not ordinary egg noodles, but thick noodles with added alkali. Alkaline noodles have a chewy texture when cooked and won't go soft.
Second, the peanut sauce must be freshly ground. You can't buy canned peanut sauce from the supermarket; you must roast your own peanuts and grind your own sauce. Freshly ground peanut sauce has aroma; canned does not.
Third, the lard must be freshly rendered. Lard that has cooled down is not fragrant. Only hot lard can bring out the aroma of peanut sauce and soy sauce.
These three things sound simple, but they are hard to do. I tried making Shaxian mixed noodles at Giaogiao. The Italian chef helped me make an Italian version — using olive oil instead of lard, almond butter instead of peanut sauce, and Parmesan cheese instead of scallions.
The result? It wasn't inedible, but it was completely different. Olive oil was too light to hold the noodles. Almond butter was too sweet and overpowered the noodles. Parmesan cheese was too salty and fought with the soy sauce.
After eating, the Italian chef said: "I understand. The philosophy of Shaxian mixed noodles is: every ingredient has a clear division of labor. Lard is responsible for fragrance, peanut sauce for richness, soy sauce for saltiness, and scallions for freshness. They don't compete or grab; each does its own job."
"Yes," I said, "the philosophy of Italian pasta is 'integration' — making all ingredients become a new flavor. The philosophy of Shaxian mixed noodles is 'layering' — letting every ingredient keep its own flavor, but not conflicting when together."
Four. Flat Meat Dumplings: Meat Is Pounded, Not Chopped
The second signature of Shaxian snacks is flat meat dumplings.
Europeans easily understand flat meat dumplings as wonton. But in fact, flat meat dumplings and wonton are two completely different things.
Wonton filling is chopped. The meat is cut into small pieces, chopped with a knife, mixed with ginger and scallion, and wrapped in dough skin.
Flat meat dumpling filling is pounded. A whole piece of pork hind leg is placed on a chopping board and repeatedly pounded with a wooden stick until the meat becomes mud. This process takes 30 minutes. The pounded meat mud has its fibers broken, with an extremely delicate texture. Then a little alkali is added to make the meat mud more elastic.
The Italian chef asked me: "Why pound it instead of chopping directly?"
"Because chopped meat has graininess; pounded meat does not. Grainy meat has resistance when chewed. Meat without graininess melts in the mouth."
"This is like Italian..."
"Like your mortadella. The meat is beaten very finely until it becomes mud."
"Yes! But mortadella is beaten by machine. Flat meat dumplings are pounded by hand."
"Yes. So mortadella is uniform, but flat meat dumplings have 'hand feel.' When you eat mortadella, every bite is the same. When you eat flat meat dumplings, every bite has subtle differences — because when pounding, the force cannot be completely even."
After hearing this, the Italian chef was silent for a long time.
"Coach," he said, "when I was in Rome, I looked down on handmade food. I thought machine-made was more standard. Now I am starting to feel that the 'non-standard' nature of handmade food is precisely its soul."
Five. Stewed Pots: One Pot at a Time, the Philosophy of Wellness
The third feature of Shaxian snacks is stewed pots.
A small clay pot, with a piece of meat, a few goji berries, several slices of angelica, and a little ginger, placed in a steamer and steamed together with dumplings for an hour. After an hour, the meat is tender, the soup is clear, and the medicinal flavor has seeped into the meat.
The first time Marco ate a stewed pot, he asked me: "Is this soup or medicine?"
"Both soup and medicine."
"What do you mean?"
"Chinese people eat food not just to be full, but also to nourish. The angelica, goji berries, and codonopsis in the stewed pot are all Chinese medicinal herbs. They are stewed with the meat; the medicinal properties seep into the meat, and the meat flavor seeps into the soup. Drinking the soup and eating the meat equals eating a 'therapeutic meal.'"
"This is different from Western soup."
"Yes. Western soup is for tasting good. Chinese stewed pots are for 'tonifying.' Tasting good is incidental; tonifying the body is the main point."
At Giaogiao, I tried making stewed pots. Using Italian pork, French angelica, and Chinese goji berries. Steamed for an hour, the taste was right, but Marco said: "This soup... is too 'functional.'"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, when I drink this soup, I am not enjoying it; I am 'treating' something."
I said: "Yes. That is the essence of stewed pots. They are not for you to enjoy, but to make you 'feel a little better.'"
Six. The Secret of Shaxian People: Not Taste, but System
Why can Shaxian snacks open all over China?
Not because the taste is the best. Shaxian mixed noodles are not the most delicious noodles in China. Shaxian flat meat dumplings are not the most delicious wonton in China. Shaxian stewed pots are not the most delicious soup in China.
The success of Shaxian snacks is because it is a 'system.'
This system has three characteristics.
First, standardization. Shaxian people invented the 'Shaxian snacks standard formula.' Every shop has fixed proportions for how to cook noodles, how to mix sauce, and how to pound meat. This proportion is not written in a book, but passed down through apprenticeship — master teaches apprentice, hand by hand.
Second, low cost. Shaxian snacks shops are always the smallest. The kitchen takes up half, the seats take up half. No decoration, no service, no advertising. Costs are pressed to the lowest, so prices can be the lowest.
Third, full coverage. The Shaxian snacks menu covers the needs of an entire day. Mixed noodles for breakfast, flat meat dumplings for lunch, stewed pots for dinner. One person can solve all three meals at Shaxian snacks.
After hearing this, the Italian chef said: "This is exactly the same as McDonald's."
"No," I said, "McDonald's standardization is 'dehumanizing.' Hamburgers are made by machines, waiters are trained by manuals, and customers don't need to communicate. The standardization of Shaxian snacks is 'humanizing.' Noodles are pulled by people, sauce is mixed by people, and meat is pounded by people. When you walk into a Shaxian snacks shop, you can see the boss busy in the kitchen, hear the sounds from the pot, and smell the aroma of freshly cooked food."
"So Shaxian snacks is... standardized with warmth?"
"Yes. The philosophy of Shaxian snacks is: use human hands to make stable flavors. Not machines, but 'heritage.'"
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> Coach Liu Says
>
> Shaxian snacks are not the most delicious food in China, but they are the most 'authentic' food in China. They don't decorate, don't package, don't tell stories. They are just a bowl of mixed noodles, a steamer of flat meat dumplings, and a pot of stewed soup. But behind this simplicity, there is a complete system: handmade standardization, low-cost efficiency, and all-day coverage. The next time you go to China, don't only go to Michelin restaurants. Find a Shaxian snacks shop on the street, order a bowl of mixed noodles and a stewed pot. Sit on a plastic stool and listen to the delivery driver next to you eating while making a phone call. At that moment, what you are eating is not food, but the hustle and bustle of China.
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