In Xinjiang, cold noodles with sauce are also called "Latiangzi". Just as its name implies, the noodles are pulled out by hand. However, it is completely different from Shaanxi's hand-pulled noodles and Lanzhou's hand-pulled beef noodles. The "Latiangzi" noodles should neither be too thick nor too thin, or else they will lose their proper texture and toughness.

Whether the cold noodles with sauce taste good or not mainly depends on the side dish for mixing. The fixed way of making Xinjiang's cold noodles with sauce is to serve one portion of noodles with one portion of side dish. Virtually any vegetable can be made into a side dish for these noodles. Fresh seasonal vegetables are especially popular. When frying the side dish in the pan, it should be accompanied by tomato juice or tomatoes. After the cold noodles with sauce are served on the table, pour the side dish and its juice together into the plate of noodles, and then use chopsticks to mix them back and forth several times. Then the flavor of the side dish juice will soak into the noodles. Once the effect of integrating the dish and the noodles is achieved, they are ready to be eaten.

When Xinjiang people eat cold noodles with sauce, nine out of ten will choose fried sliced mutton as their preferred side dish. The meat in this dish is mutton, and the vegetables are green peppers and onions. Its taste and style suit the character of Xinjiang people very well. Fried sliced mutton was originally a dish in Qitai County and was very popular among the locals. The county leaders wanted to build it into a brand. However, since it had already become the best side dish for cold noodles with sauce, the plan finally came to nothing. I once found that some restaurants served fried sliced mutton as a separate dish, but it wasn't very popular among diners. Even if it was occasionally ordered and served on the table, few people would touch it with their chopsticks. People all thought that fried sliced mutton already belonged to cold noodles with sauce. If you didn't eat the cold noodles with sauce but just had a plate of fried sliced mutton, what was there to enjoy?

When eating cold noodles with sauce, you must use a plate. Otherwise, it will be inconvenient because it's not easy to mix them well. There are also some restaurants that use bowls to serve cold noodles with sauce, but they must be large, open-mouthed bowls. Their appearance and the comfort of use are almost the same as those of plates. I once saw two outsiders who felt uncomfortable using plates and switched to using bowls to eat cold noodles with sauce, which looked a bit awkward. When Xinjiang people eat cold noodles with sauce, they never pick up the plate. Because the plate makes people look rough, Xinjiang people put the plate on the table to eat, which looks elegant and generous. Later, I found that the reason why the plate is the best choice for eating cold noodles with sauce is related to the personality of Xinjiang people. The plate is open, straightforward, and clear at a glance, and the personality of Xinjiang people is just like that. If two things have something in common in their essence, people will, consciously or unconsciously, connect them and integrate them into one. Probably, many lives are nurtured in this way.

Having eaten cold noodles with sauce for many years, I've also experienced quite a number of interesting stories. A comrade-in-arms came down from Ali in Tibet to Yecheng. He asked the restaurant owner to make three servings of cold noodles with sauce. The owner said that if the noodles weren't enough, he could add more for free and there was no need to order three servings at once. He said that it wasn't a matter of adding noodles or not. He just missed eating cold noodles with sauce so much that even if he only ate a few bites of each serving, he still wanted three servings. So the owner served him spicy pepper and meat, shredded potatoes, and fried sliced mutton according to his request. He tasted them one by one with a delighted look on his face.

Most Xinjiang people have the habit of drinking noodle soup after eating cold noodles with sauce. The thickness of the noodle soup depends on the amount of noodles cooked. Generally speaking, it's a clear soup with a slightly starchy texture, and it tastes quite refreshing to drink. After finishing a plate of cold noodles with sauce, slowly drinking a bowl of noodle soup is aimed at helping with digestion. Over time, it has become an indispensable habit for those who eat cold noodles with sauce. Although the habit of drinking noodle soup has disappeared in big cities nowadays, it's still quite common in rural areas or in families. Especially when the elderly finish eating cold noodles with sauce and then drink a bowl of noodle soup, they will smile and say, "Today's cold noodles with sauce are really filling. Drink a bowl of noodle soup to fill the gaps in the stomach!" The way they talk and their energetic appearance show the humorous and serious side of Xinjiang people.

There's a story that a man left the restaurant after eating cold noodles with sauce. Halfway on his way, he always felt that something was missing. After scratching his head and thinking for a while, he realized that he had forgotten to drink the noodle soup. So he turned around and went back to that restaurant. As soon as the owner saw him, he said, "I knew you'd come back. The noodle soup is being heated on the stove for you!" After drinking the noodle soup, the man set off again, and his pace suddenly became much faster.