导读:几周前，我做过一个梦，梦到了小时候，在学校外面，我和小伙伴们早餐吃担担面的场景。我们一边吃，一边聊家庭作业，聊班上老师、同学的八卦，还取笑大家吃面时粘在脸上和牙缝里的葱花。
Several weeks ago, I dreamed of my childhood. I was brought back to when my friends and I had Dandan noodles for breakfast outside our school. While eating, we discussed homework, gossiped about our classmates and teachers, and teased each other about the pieces of leek left on our cheeks and teeth.
几周前，我做过一个梦，梦到了小时候，在学校外面，我和小伙伴们早餐吃担担面的场景。我们一边吃，一边聊家庭作业，聊班上老师、同学的八卦，还取笑大家吃面时粘在脸上和牙缝里的葱花。
The dream was so real that I remembered every bite of the noodles after I woke up, and the wonderful lingering aftertaste of hot pepper and leeks made me lose the ability to tell between conscious and subconscious.
这个梦是如此的真实，以至于我在醒来后，对每一口面的味道还记忆犹新，那红辣椒和葱花回味无穷的香味，居然让我分不清是梦境还是现实。
I realized that I needed a bowl of my hometown Dandan noodles immediately. By that time, I had not had the Dandan noodles for almost a decade.
我意识到，我需要马上来一碗我家乡的担担面。那时，我已经有将近十年没有吃过担担面了。
My husband thought it was no big deal because Dandan noodles can be found everywhere in Beijing. It was the start of a long and hard journey of finding my hometown Dandan noodles.
我的丈夫觉得这根本不是什么难事，因为在北京，担担面随处可见。这正是我们找寻老家的担担面的漫长、艰难旅程的开端。
During the first week, I tried several restaurants in Beijing, but the taste just never seemed right. What the restaurants served was pure Sichuan Dandan noodles.
第一个星期，我去北京好几个餐厅吃了担担面，但味道好像总是不对。他们提供的是只是很常见的四川担担面。
Of course, Dandan noodles originated in Sichuan Province. But during decades of development, it accumulated lots of variations, including the one from my hometown in Shanxi Province.
没错，担担面确实是起源于四川。不过，在几十年的发展过程中，它衍生出了很多种变化，其中就包括我的家乡山西省。
The key ingredients of the perfect Shanxi Dandan noodles are noodles, sauce, and pepper. Make fresh noodles, slightly thicker than the usual Sichuan noodles and most other noodles, and then put oil on it. Then add dry red pepper powder, not the Sichuan ones mixed with beans and too much oil. The red pepper must be dried first before it is ground into powder. Fry the powder in oil and dry it again. Then comes the unforgettable soup that is boiled with bean sauce, soy sauce, and playful leeks cut into small pieces.
一碗完美的山西担担面的关键原料就是面条、酱油和辣椒。煮好新鲜的面条——这种面条比常见的四川担担面和其他面条都要略厚一点，然后淋上油，接上加入干红辣椒面，它不是四川的那种加的有豆子和很多油的那种。这种干红辣椒一定要先晒干，之后才研磨成粉，然后过油炸，再风干。再加上酱油和切的细碎生动的葱花，沸腾，这样才调制出让人难忘的面汤来。
See, it’s nothing like Sichuan Dandan noodles.
看，它和四川担担面一点也不一样。
What does it taste like? It tastes like heaven.
它吃起来是什么味道？美味得像在天堂一样。
Yes, it’s a taste of heaven. Just as Marshall in the TV drama "How I Met Your Mother" called his best burger "God" and said, "This is God speaking to us in food."
对，就是这个味。正如《老爸老妈浪漫史》里的马歇尔称呼他最好吃的汉堡包“上帝”一样，他是这样说的，“这是上帝变成美食来和我对话”。
I was so desperate to find the right Dandan noodles that I called several of my childhood friends. They offered me two choices. One was to buy it from online shops run by people in my hometown, and the other, to go back to Shanxi.
我极度的渴望一碗老家的担担面，以至于我打电话找发小求助。他们给了我两个选择：一是在我的家乡人开的网店里买，二是回到山西去吃。
I ordered a few packets of the noodles online, but the sauce tasted like something was missing. That left me with only one choice.
我在网上买了几袋面回来，但是那个酱油吃起来总感觉少了点什么。这样一来我就只有一个选择了。
I went back to my hometown during a weekend and was told that the old lady who used to sell Dandan noodles outside my school had long moved to some unknown village.
我专门抽一个周末回了趟山西老家，被告知之前在我们学校外面卖担担面的大妈，很早前就已经搬到不知哪里的村庄去了。
I then went to a restaurant my mom recommended as having the "best local Dandan noodles" and returned home disappointedly.
然后，老妈给我推荐了一个她认为是“最地道的担担面馆”，我去了，仍败兴而归。
After talking with my friends about my failed quest, I realized that the perfect Shanxi Dandan noodles only existed in my memory. It’s perfect because my beautiful childhood memories made it perfect.
在与发小们谈起这失败的找寻后，我意识到，完美的山西担担面仅存在我的记忆里了。它的完美只是我美好的童年让它变得完美。
I finally realized that I might never again find my perfect Shanxi Dandan noodles with that special "taste of heaven."
我终于认识到，我不能再去找寻我的“美味得似天堂般”的完美山西担担面了。
