Chinese noodles
Chinese noodles are an essential ingredient and staple in Chinese cuisine. There is a great variety of noodles, which vary according to their region of production, ingredients, shape or width, and manner of preparation.
Chinese noodles are an important part of most regional cuisines within mainland China, as well as in Taiwan, Singapore, and other Southeast Asian nations with sizable overseas Chinese populations. Chinese noodles have also entered the cuisines of neighboring East Asian countries such as Korea and Japan (dangmyeon and ramen, for example, are both of Chinese origin), as well as Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam, Thailand, and Cambodia.
Nomenclature
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 Chinese, 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 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. Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore and many other Overseas Chinese communities in Southeast Asia will use Hokkien (Min Nan) instead.
The character for miàn (wheat noodles) can be written a number of ways in Chinese. The standard Traditional character is 麵, while the standard Simplified character is 面. Variant characters include 麪, 麺, and 靣. The characters 面 and 麵 are separate characters in Traditional Chinese, the former meaning "face" and the latter meaning "noodles" or "flour". In Simplified Chinese, the two characters have been combined and both meanings are expressed by 面.
History
Although the Chinese, Arabs, and Italians have all claimed to have been the first to create noodles, the first written account of noodles dates from the Chinese East Han Dynasty, between 25 and 220 AD. During the Chinese Song Dynasty (960–1279) noodle shops were very popular in the cities, and remained open all night.
In October 2005, the oldest noodles yet discovered were found in Qinghai, China, at the Lajia archaeological site, during excavation of a Neolithic Qijia culture settlement along the Yellow River.[1] The 4,000-year-old noodles appear to have been made from foxtail millet and broomcorn millet.[2] Today, millet is not a commonly used ingredient in Chinese noodles.
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, or food colouring may also be added to noodles made from wheat flour in order to give the noodles a yellow colour. Arrowroot or tapioca starch are sometimes added to the flour mixture in low quantities to change the texture and tenderness of the noodles' strands.
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 four types of mechanical processing may be applied to produce the noodles:
- Cut (切) - The dough is rolled out into a flat sheet, folded, and then cut into noodles of a desired width.
- Extruded (擠壓) - The dough is placed into a mechanical press with holes through which the dough is forced to form strands of noodles.
- Peeled (削) - 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) - The dough is rolled into a long cylinder, which is then repeatedly stretched and folded to produce a thinner and thinner strands.
- Kneaded (揉) - A small ball of dough is lightly rolled on a flat surface until it is several centimetres long and spindle shaped.
While cut and extruded noodles can be dried to create a shelf-stable product to be eaten months after production, most peeled and pulled noodles are consumed shortly after they are produced.
Cooking
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.
Chinese noodle types
Wheat flour based
These noodles are made only with wheat flour, water, and sometimes salt.
| Common English name | Characters | Pinyin | Cantonese | Hokkien | Thai | Western equivalent | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cat's ear | 貓耳朵 | māo ěr duǒ | maau ji do | - | - | Orecchiette | Looks like a cat's ear |
| Cold noodle | 涼麵 | liang miàn | lahng mein | - | - | - | - |
| Daoxiao mian | 刀削麵 | daoxiao miàn | doe seuk mein | - | - | - | Relatively short flat noodle peeled by knife from a firm slab of dough |
| Lamian | 拉麵 | lāmiàn | laai min | - | ba mee (เส้นบะหมี่) | - | Hand-pulled noodles; from which ramen was derived. |
| Lo mein | 撈麵 | lāo miàn | lo min | lo mi | - | - | Wheat flour noodles that are stir fried with sliced vegetables and/or meats and other seasonings |
| Misua | 麵線 宮麵 |
miànxiàn or gōngmiàn |
min sin | misua | - | Long, short, very fine Vermicelli |
Thin, salted wheat noodles (1 mm diameter). Can be caramelized to a brown colour through extensive steaming |
| Saang mein | 生麵 | shēngmiàn | saang min | - | - | - | Soapy texture |
| Thick noodles | 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) or egg. Lye water noodles also have subtle but distinctive smell.
| Common English name | Characters | Pinyin | Cantonese | Hokkien | Thai | Western equivalent | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oil noodles | 油麵 | yóumiàn | jau4 min | - | - | - | Made of wheat flour and egg or lye-water; often comes pre-cooked |
| Thin noodles | 幼麵 | yòu miàn | jau mein | - | - | - | Thin lye-water noodles; one of the most common Cantonese noodles |
| Mee pok | 麵薄 | miàn báo | - | mee pok | mee pok | Linguine | Flat egg or lye-water noodles |
| Yi mein | 伊麵 伊府麵 |
yīmiàn yīfǔmiàn |
yi mein yee min yee foo min |
ee mee ee foo mee |
- | - | Fried, chewy noodles made from wheat flour and egg or lye-water |
| Shrimp roe noodles | 蝦子麵 | xiāzǐ miàn | ha tsz min | - | - | - | Made of wheat flour, lye-water, and roe, which show off 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 based
Rice based noodles can be：
- Extruded from a paste and steamed into strands of noodles
- 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 add other plant starches to modify the texture of the noodles.
| Common English name | Characters | Pinyin | Cantonese | Hokkien | Thai | Western equivalent | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kway teow | 粿条 | gǔotiáo | kwai tiu | kway teow | Sen yai (เส้นใหญ่) | Rice fettuccine | Flat rice noodles |
| Ho fun | 沙河粉 河粉 |
Shāhé fěn or héfěn |
ho fun | hor fun | - | Rice pappardelle | Very wide, flat, rice noodles |
| Lai fun | 瀨粉 酹粉 |
lài fěn | laai fun | - | - | Thick rice spaghetti | Thick round semi-transparent noodle made from sticky rice |
| Mai sin | 米線 米线 |
mǐxiàn | mai sin | Bee sua | Sen lek (เส้นเล็ก) | Rice spaghetti | Rice noodles also called Guilin mífěn (桂林米粉) |
| Rice vermicelli | 米粉 | mífěn | mai fun | bee hoon | Sen mee (เส้นหมี่) | - | Thin rice noodles |
Starch based
These noodles are made with 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 | Thai | Western equivalent | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winter noodles | 冬粉 | dōngfěn | dung fun | dang hun | - | Thin mung bean vermicelli | Very thin mung bean starch noodles |
| Bean threads | 粉絲 | fěnsī | fun sze | - | Wun sen (วุ้นเส้น) | 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 (澄粉) left from producing gluten |
| Silver needle noodles | 銀針粉 老鼠粉 |
yín zhēn fěn lǎo shǔ fěn |
ngàhn jām fán lóuh syú fán |
ngiau chu hoon | - | - | Spindle-shaped wheat starch noodles, ca. 5 cm in length and 3-5 mm in diameter |
Signature Chinese noodle dishes
External links
Video
See also
References
- ^ Lu, Houyuan (2005-10-13). "Culinary archaeology: Millet noodles in Late Neolithic China". Nature. 437. Berlin: Nature Publishing Group: 967–968. doi:10.1038/437967a.
{{cite journal}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help); Check date values in:|date=(help); Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ "Oldest noodles unearthed in China", BBC News, 12 October 2005.