Kuai An Hand Pull Noodles is a recent arrival to the crowd of Fujian-owned Lanzhou noodle joints in east Chinatown, occupying the space where the popular Eastern Noodles once simmered its soup.

No doubt you’ve had some version of this dish at a Chinese or Thai restaurant. The origin of peanut noodles isn’t entirely clear, but the Chinese version hails from the Shaxian District, in the ...