Chinese noodles

Chinese noodles

Making misua noodles in Lukang, Taiwan
Type	Noodles
Place of origin	China
Media: Chinese noodles

Noodles are an essential ingredient and staple in Chinese cuisine. Chinese noodles vary widely according to the region of production, ingredients, shape or width, and manner of preparation. They are an important part of most regional cuisines within China, as well as in Singapore, and other Southeast Asian nations with sizable overseas Chinese populations.

Chinese-style noodles have also entered the cuisines of neighboring East Asian countries such as Korea (jajangmyeon) and Japan (ramen), as well as Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam (hủ tiếu and mì xào are both examples of Vietnamese dishes that are of Chinese origin), the Philippines, Thailand, and Cambodia.

Hi Jack

Nomenclature of Chinese noodles can be difficult due to the vast spectrum available in China and the many dialects of Chinese used to name them. In Mandarin, miàn (simplified Chinese: 面; traditional Chinese: 麵; often transliterated as "mien" or "mein" ) refers to noodles made from wheat, while fěn (粉) or "fun" refers to noodles made from rice flour, mung bean starch, or indeed any kind of non-wheat starch. Each noodle type can be rendered in pinyin for Mandarin, but in Hong Kong and neighboring Guangdong it will be known by its Cantonese pronunciation ("main"). Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore and many other Overseas Chinese communities in Southeast Asia may use Hokkien (Min Nan) instead ("mee").

History

The earliest written record of noodles is from a book dated to the Han dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD). Noodles, often made from wheat dough, became a prominent staple of food during the Han dynasty. In the Western Han Dynasty, due to the demand for military, it was necessary for the Government to implement food processing technologies that would make the food storage easier and more affordable. During this time, “Laomian” was emerged, it was made with starch rich buckwheat, millet and pea, flours. It consists lower water content making it easier to store and transport around.

During the Song dynasty (960–1279) noodle shops were very popular in the cities, and remained open all night. During the earlier dynastic periods Chinese wheat noodles were known as "soup cake" (湯餅), as explained by the Song dynasty scholar Huang Chaoying (黃朝英) mentions in his work "A delightful mixed discussion on various scholarly topics" (Chinese: 靖康緗素雜記; pinyin: jìngkāngxiāngsùzájì, Scroll 2) that in ancient times bready foods like pasta are referred collectively as "bing" and differentiated through their cooking methods.|dead-url=|access-date=28 February 2019}}</ref>

Production

Chinese noodles are generally made from either wheat flour, rice flour, or mung bean starch, with wheat noodles being more commonly produced and consumed in northern China and rice noodles being more typical of southern China. Egg, lye, and cereal may also be added to noodles made from wheat flour in order to give the noodles a different color or flavor. Egg whites, arrowroot or tapioca starch are sometimes added to the flour mixture in low quantities to change the texture and tenderness of the noodles' strands. Although illegal, the practice of adding the chemical cross-linker borax to whiten noodles and improve their texture is also quite common in East Asia. In general, the chinese noodles cooking method involves making a dough with flour, salt, and water; mixing the dough by hand to form bar shapes; bending the bars for proofing; pulling the bars into strips; dropping the strips into a pot with boiling water; and removing the noodles when finished cooking. Chinese type noodles are generally made from hard wheat flours, characterized by bright creamy white or bright yellow color and firm texture.

Before the automatic noodle machine was invented in 1950s, the processing of Chinese noodles were made with four steps, including Fresh - The noodles are often consumed within 24 hours of manufacture due to quick discoloration. Their shelf life can be extended to 3-5 days if stored under refrigeration; Dried - Fresh noodle stands are dried by sunlight or in a controlled chamber. Chinese noodles, can be in dried form; Boiled - Fresh noodle strands are either parboiled or fully cooked. After parboiling, Chinese noodles are rinsed in cold water, drained and covered with 1-2% vegetable oil to prevent sticking; Steamed - Fresh alkaline noodle strands are steamed in a steamer and softened with water through rinsing.

The dough for noodles made from wheat flour is typically made from wheat flour, salt, and water, with the addition of eggs or lye depending on the desired texture and taste of the noodles. Rice- or other starch-based noodles are typically made with only the starch or rice flour and water. After the formation of a pliable dough mass, one of five types of mechanical processing may be applied to produce the noodles:

English	Chinese	Pinyin	Process
Cut	切	qiē	The dough is rolled out into a flat sheet, folded, and then cut into noodles of a desired width.
Extruded	挤压	jǐyā	The dough is placed into a mechanical press with holes through which the dough is forced to form strands of noodles.
Peeled	削	xiāo	A firm dough is mixed and formed into a long loaf. Strips of dough are then quickly sliced or peeled off the loaf directly into boiling water.
Pulled	拉	lā	The dough is rolled into a long cylinder, which is then repeatedly stretched and folded to produce a single thin strand.
Kneaded	揉	róu	A ball of dough is lightly rolled on a flat surface or kneaded with one's hands until it is formed into the desired shape.
Flicked	柭	bó	A soft dough is prepared, placed in a bowl, strips of dough are pulled and flicked directly into boiling water using a flexible bamboo stick or chopstick.

While cut and extruded noodles can be dried to create a shelf-stable product to be eaten months after production, most peeled, pulled and kneaded noodles are consumed shortly after they are produced.

• 
  Peeling thin strips of dough from a loaf directly into a container of boiling water to make daoxiaomian (刀削面)
• 
  Pulling wheat dough into one thin strand to form lamian
• Noodle maker in Peng Zhou extruding noodles directly into a pot of boiling water.

Cooking

A bowl of mala beef daoxiaomein (刀削面)

Noodles may be cooked from either their fresh (moist) or dry forms. They are generally boiled, although they may also be deep-fried in oil until crispy. Boiled noodles may then be stir fried, served with sauce or other accompaniments, or served in soup, often with meat and other ingredients. Certain rice-noodles are made directly from steaming the raw rice slurry and are only consumed fresh.

Unlike many Western noodles and pastas, Chinese noodles made from wheat flour are usually made from salted dough, and therefore do not require the addition of salt to the liquid in which they are boiled. Chinese noodles also cook very quickly, generally requiring less than 5 minutes to become al dente and some taking less than a minute to finish cooking, with thinner noodles requiring less time to cook. Chinese noodles made from rice or mung bean starch do not generally contain salt.

Types

Wheat

These noodles are made only with wheat flour and water. If the intended product is dried noodles, salt is almost always added to the recipe.

Common English name	Characters	Pinyin	Cantonese	Hokkien	Western equivalent	Description
Cat's ear	貓耳朵	māo ěr duǒ	maau yi do		Orecchiette	Looks like a cat's ear
Cold noodles	凉面／涼麵	liáng miàn	lahng mein			Served cold
Dao xiao mian	刀削面 / 刀削麵	dāo xiāo miàn	doe seuk mein			Relatively short flat noodle peeled by knife from a firm slab of dough
Lamian	拉麵	lā miàn	laai mein			Hand-pulled noodles from which ramen was derived.
Yaka mein (Yat Ca Mein, Yet Ca Mein)						North American Chinese style wheat noodles similar to spaghetti; sold in Canada and the United States
Lo mein	捞面／撈麵	lāo miàn	lo mein	lo mi		Egg noodles that are stir fried with sliced vegetables and/or meats and other seasonings
Misua	面线／麵線	miàn xiàn	mein sin	misua	Long, short, very fine Vermicelli	Thin, salted wheat noodles (1 mm diameter). Can be caramelized to a brown colour through extensive steaming
	宮麵	gōng miàn
Saang mein	生面／生麵	shēng miàn	saang mein			Soapy texture
Thick noodles	粗面／粗麵	cū miàn	cho mein			Thick wheat flour noodles, from which udon was derived.

Lye-water or egg

These wheat flour noodles are more chewy in texture and yellow in colour either due to the addition of lye (sodium carbonate, potassium carbonate, calcium hydroxide, or potassium hydroxide) and/or egg. This class of lye water noodles (Chinese: 碱面／碱麵; pinyin: jiǎn miàn) has a subtle but distinctive smell and taste, described by some as being "eggy".

Common English name	Characters	Pinyin	Cantonese	Hokkien	Western equivalent	Description
Oil noodles	油面／油麵	yóu miàn	yau4 min			Made of wheat flour and egg or lye-water; often comes pre-cooked
Thin noodles	幼面／幼麵	yòu miàn	yau mein			Thin lye-water noodles; one of the most common Cantonese noodles
Mee pok	麵薄	miàn báo		mee pok	Linguine	Flat egg or lye-water noodles
Yi mein	伊麵 伊府麵	yī miàn yī fǔ miàn	yi mein yee min yee foo min e-fu	ee mee ee foo mee		Fried, chewy noodles made from wheat flour and egg or lye-water
Shrimp roe noodles	蝦子麵	xiā zǐ miàn	ha tsz min			Made of wheat flour, lye-water, and roe, which show up as black spots
Jook-sing noodles	竹昇麵	zhú shēng miàn	zuk1 sing1 min6			a rare type of Cantonese noodle in which the dough is tenderized with a large bamboo log.

Rice

Rice-based noodles can be:

1. Extruded from a paste and steamed into strands of noodles
2. Steamed from a slurry into sheets and then sliced into strands

These noodles are typically made only with rice and water without the addition of salt. Although unorthodox, some producers may choose to add other plant starches to modify the texture of the noodles.

Common English name	Characters	Pinyin	Cantonese	Hokkien	Western equivalent	Description
Kway teow	粿条	Gǔo tiáo	Kwai tiu	Kway teow	Rice fettuccine	Flat rice noodles
Ho fun, Chow fun	沙河粉	Shā hé fěn			Rice pappardelle	Very wide, flat, rice noodles
	河粉	Hé fěn	Ho fun	Hor fun
Lai fun	瀨粉 酹粉	Lài fěn	Laai fun		Rice spaghetti	Thick round semi-transparent noodle made from sticky rice
Mai sin	米線 米线	Mǐ xiàn	Mai sin	Bee sua	Rice spaghettini	Rice noodles also called Guilin mífěn (桂林米粉)
Rice vermicelli	米粉	Mí fěn	Mai fun	Bee hoon		Thin rice noodles

Starch

Sichuan-style liangfen (凉粉), a noodle made from pea (or rice) starch

These noodles are made using various plant starches. Mung bean starch noodles will often be cut with tapioca starch to make them more chewy and reduce production costs.

Common English name	Characters	Pinyin	Cantonese	Hokkien	Western equivalent	Description
Winter noodles	冬粉	dōng fěn	dung fun	dang hun	Thin mung bean vermicelli	Very thin mung bean starch noodles
Bean threads	粉絲	fěn sī	fun sze		Mung bean vermicelli	Thin cellophane-like noodles
Mung bean sheets	粉皮	fěn pí	fan pei			Wide, clear noodles made from mung bean starch
Liang pi	凉皮	líang pí				Translucent noodles made from wheat starch left from producing gluten
Silver needle noodles	銀針粉	yín zhēn fěn	ngàhn jām fán			Spindle-shaped wheat starch noodles, ca. 5 cm in length and 3–5 mm in diameter
	老鼠粉	lǎo shǔ fěn	lóuh syú fán	ngiau chu hoon
Suān là fěn	酸辣粉	Suān là fěn	chuan lao fán		Sweet Potato vermicelli	Chongqing Hot & Spicy sweet potato starch noodles

Oat

Youmian (莜面), cooked oat noodles and tubes

In China, particularly in western Inner Mongolia and Shanxi province, oat (Avena nuda) flour is called youmian (莜面), and is processed into noodles or thin-walled rolls, which are consumed as staple food. The process of making oat noodles is special. The oat dough is twisted on marble plate which can ensure the dough will not stick on it, into strips and thin-rolls. It can be boiled and also steamed with different sauces to eat.

Chinese noodle dishes

The following are a small portion of Chinese dishes that incorporate noodles:

• Ban mian
• Beef chow fun
• Cart noodle
• Char kway teow
• Laksa
• Lo mein
• Re gan mian
• Zhajiangmian

See also

• Chinese cuisine
• Japanese noodles
• Korean noodles
• List of noodles
• List of noodle dishes
• Noodle soup

External links

• Cook's Thesaurus: Asian Noodles