i believe that was best noodle house in rosemead - more a chong qing specialist, IIRC they do a jjm version that chowseeker raved about.
the korean version supposed to be more… restrained, if that’s an adjective you’d use with korean cuisine. i’m not a big fan, so i’m not the best person to ask about it.
as for the liang pi, not too many places offer it. until i see evidence of a decline myself, i’d still recommend liang’s but i haven’t been to the MP or focus plaza locations since last december.
In that particular photo, the noodles are mostly buried underneath the toppings, but you can see a bit of the wide rice noodles at the 3-4 o’clock positions. The noodles look look like thin-sliced ika sashimi.
Shaanxi liang pi refer to a noodle made by soaking wheat flour in water so as to isolate the starches, separating the starchy water from the proteins etc., steaming the starch water, and slicing the wobbly result into noodles. The noodles are closer to rice noodles than wheat noodles in texture, and less jellylike than Sichuan (mung) bean jello.
In the Bay Area, I’ve seen a few different preparations of Liang pi. The most common is like in the above pic, with a chili oil and vinegar dressing, chunks of wheat gluten (they look like spongy frozen tofu), and bean sprouts.
I’m not sure what @ipsedixit’s issue is with the pic. Looks good to me! (Except the sprouts, but that’s a personal preference)
I wouldn’t read too much into it. They prolly had a surplus or procured a bunch of tofu by mistake and thought customers would appreciate a freebie. This comfort food is like Brazilians making feijoada at home on the weekends - toss whatever leftovers you want into the mix.
That picture from @secretasianman is more gan mian pi than liang pi. Besides the prolific use of wheat gluten, the noodles (or pi) are usually wheat, not rice.
The wheat gluten is standard in the Bay Area too. It sure seems in abundance in that photo above.
I’ve wondered whether the gluten is made separately or is the by-product of the liang pi— kind of like curds and whey. The gluten has been super fresh when I’ve had it, and more delicate than the kaufu (“wheat bran”, deep fried I think) at Shanghainese places (heh, these are horrible photos, but the dishes taste good. ETA: @ipsedixit, after seeing the delicious looking photos you posted, I understand your comments!)
Terra Cotta Warrior’s version (sesame sauce variety)
this site says: "As a popular street food in north-west regions of China, Liang Pi has numerous versions in terms of flour type (wheat or rice), preparation method and sauce. You could easily find two different types of Liang Pi in two neighbouring towns. "
