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Chinese noodles vary widely according to the region of production, ingredients, shape or width, and manner of preparation.
Noodle Noodles are a type of food made from unleavened dough which is either rolled flat and cut, stretched, or extruded, into long strips or strings. Noodles are a staple food in many cultures (for example, Chinese noodles, Filipino noodles, In ...
s were invented in China, and are an essential ingredient and staple in
Chinese cuisine Chinese cuisine encompasses the numerous cuisines originating from China, as well as overseas cuisines created by the Chinese diaspora. Because of the Chinese diaspora and historical power of the country, Chinese cuisine has influenced many o ...
. They are an important part of most regional cuisines within
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...
, and other countries with sizable
overseas Chinese Overseas Chinese () refers to people of Chinese birth or ethnicity who reside outside Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. As of 2011, there were over 40.3 million overseas Chinese. Terminology () or ''Hoan-kheh'' () in Hokkien, ref ...
populations. Chinese noodles can be made of wheat, buckwheat, rice, millet, oats, beans, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and even fish. There are over 1,200 types of noodles commonly consumed in China today. Chinese noodles have also entered the cuisines of neighboring
East Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea ...
n countries such as
Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic ...
and
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...
, as well as Southeast Asian countries such as
Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making ...
,
Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand ...
, and
Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...
.


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 Mandarin, miàn (; often
transliterated Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one script to another that involves swapping letters (thus ''trans-'' + '' liter-'') in predictable ways, such as Greek → , Cyrillic → , Greek → the digraph , Armenian → or L ...
as "mien" or "mein" ) refers to noodles made from
wheat flour Wheat flour is a powder made from the grinding of wheat used for human consumption. Wheat varieties are called "soft" or "weak" if gluten content is low, and are called "hard" or "strong" if they have high gluten content. Hard flour, or ''bre ...
, while fěn () or "fun" refers to noodles made from other starches, particularly
rice flour Rice flour (also rice powder) is a form of flour made from finely milled rice. It is distinct from rice starch, which is usually produced by steeping rice in lye. Rice flour is a common substitute for wheat flour. It is also used as a thickening ...
and
mung bean The mung bean (''Vigna radiata''), alternatively known as the green gram, maash ( fa, ماش٫ )٫ mūng (), monggo, or munggo (Philippines), is a plant species in the Fabaceae, legume family.Brief Introduction of Mung Bean. Vigna Radiata ...
starch. Each noodle type can be rendered in
pinyin Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally written in Chinese fo ...
for Mandarin, but in
Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...
and neighboring
Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020 ...
it will be known by its
Cantonese Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding a ...
pronunciation ("meen" or "mien" for wheat noodles, "fun" for non-wheat).
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the no ...
,
Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Mal ...
,
Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
and many other
Overseas Chinese Overseas Chinese () refers to people of Chinese birth or ethnicity who reside outside Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. As of 2011, there were over 40.3 million overseas Chinese. Terminology () or ''Hoan-kheh'' () in Hokkien, ref ...
communities in
Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...
may use
Hokkien The Hokkien () variety of Chinese is a Southern Min language native to and originating from the Minnan region, where it is widely spoken in the south-eastern part of Fujian in southeastern mainland China. It is one of the national languages ...
(
Min Nan Southern Min (), Minnan ( Mandarin pronunciation: ) or Banlam (), is a group of linguistically similar and historically related Sinitic languages that form a branch of Min Chinese spoken in Fujian (especially the Minnan region), most of Taiwan ...
) instead (e.g. "mee" for wheat noodles). Wheat noodles, for example, are called mian in Mandarin, mein in Cantonese, men in Japanese, mee in Thai and gougsou in Korean. Sometimes, The principal ingredient used in the preparation such as wheat, buckwheat, rice, potato, corn flour and bean, soybean flour, yam flour, mung-bean starch, sweet potato, cassava, etc. may also form the basis of naming noodles


History

The earliest written record of noodles is from a book dated to the
Eastern Han The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...
period (25–220 CE). Noodles, often made from wheat dough, became a prominent staple of food during the Han dynasty. In the Western Han Dynasty, due to demand by the 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” emerged, it was made with starch-rich buckwheat, millet and pea flours with lower water content, making it easier to store and transport. During the
Song dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the res ...
(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" (), as explained by the Song dynasty scholar Huáng Cháo Yīng (黃朝英) mentions in his work "''A delightful mixed discussion on various scholarly topics''" (, Scroll 2) that in ancient times bready foods like pasta are referred collectively as "
bing Bing most often refers to: * Bing Crosby (1903–1977), American singer * Microsoft Bing, a web search engine Bing may also refer to: Food and drink * Bing (bread), a Chinese flatbread * Bing (soft drink), a UK brand * Bing cherry, a varie ...
" and differentiated through their cooking methods.· Up until 1992, most dried Chinese noodles in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
could not be sold labelled as "noodles". This is due to fact that many Chinese noodles are made without eggs and do not always use wheat as starch, thus resulting in the
United States Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of comme ...
obliging manufacturers to label them as "imitation noodles" or "alimentary paste".


Production

Chinese noodles are generally made from either wheat flour, rice flour, or
mung bean The mung bean (''Vigna radiata''), alternatively known as the green gram, maash ( fa, ماش٫ )٫ mūng (), monggo, or munggo (Philippines), is a plant species in the Fabaceae, legume family.Brief Introduction of Mung Bean. Vigna Radiata ...
starch, with wheat noodles being more commonly produced and consumed in
northern China Northern China () and Southern China () are two approximate regions within China. The exact boundary between these two regions is not precisely defined and only serve to depict where there appears to be regional differences between the climate ...
and rice noodles being more typical of southern China. Egg, lye, and cereal may also be added to noodles made from
wheat flour Wheat flour is a powder made from the grinding of wheat used for human consumption. Wheat varieties are called "soft" or "weak" if gluten content is low, and are called "hard" or "strong" if they have high gluten content. Hard flour, or ''bre ...
in order to give the noodles a different color or flavor. Egg whites, arrowroot or
tapioca Tapioca (; ) is a starch extracted from the storage roots of the cassava plant (''Manihot esculenta,'' also known as manioc), a species native to the North and Northeast regions of Brazil, but whose use is now spread throughout South America ...
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 Borax is a salt (ionic compound), a hydrated borate of sodium, with chemical formula often written . It is a colorless crystalline solid, that dissolves in water to make a basic solution. It is commonly available in powder or granular form ...
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 strands are dried by sunlight or in a controlled chamber; * 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: 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. File:Datong Daoxiaomian.jpg, Cutting thin strips of dough from a loaf directly into a container of boiling water to make knife-cut noodles in
Datong Datong is a prefecture-level city in northern Shanxi Province in the People's Republic of China. It is located in the Datong Basin at an elevation of and borders Inner Mongolia to the north and west and Hebei to the east. As of the 2020 ce ...
,
Shanxi Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-leve ...
File:Chinese noodles.JPG, Pulling wheat dough into one thin strand to form '' lamian'' File:Noodle making in Peng Zhou.ogv, Noodle maker in
Pengzhou Pengzhou (), formerly Peng County or Pengxian, is a county-level city of Sichuan Province, Southwest China, it is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Chengdu. There is an expressway that connects Pengzhou to Chengdu. It is ...
,
Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of t ...
extruding noodles directly into a pot of boiling water.


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
minute The minute is a unit of time usually equal to (the first sexagesimal fraction) of an hour, or 60 seconds. In the UTC time standard, a minute on rare occasions has 61 seconds, a consequence of leap seconds (there is a provision to insert a neg ...
s to become ''
al dente In cooking, al dente () describes pasta or rice that is cooked to be firm to the bite. The etymology is Italian "to the tooth". In contemporary Italian cooking, the term identifies the ideal consistency for pasta and involves a brief cooking t ...
'' 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.


Lye-water or egg

These wheat flour noodles are more chewy in texture and yellow in color either due to the addition of lye (
sodium carbonate Sodium carbonate, , (also known as washing soda, soda ash and soda crystals) is the inorganic compound with the formula Na2CO3 and its various hydrates. All forms are white, odourless, water-soluble salts that yield moderately alkaline solutions ...
,
potassium carbonate Potassium carbonate is the inorganic compound with the formula K2 CO3. It is a white salt, which is soluble in water. It is deliquescent, often appearing as a damp or wet solid. Potassium carbonate is mainly used in the production of soap and gl ...
,
calcium hydroxide Calcium hydroxide (traditionally called slaked lime) is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula Ca( OH)2. It is a colorless crystal or white powder and is produced when quicklime (calcium oxide) is mixed or slaked with water. It has ma ...
, or
potassium hydroxide Potassium hydroxide is an inorganic compound with the formula K OH, and is commonly called caustic potash. Along with sodium hydroxide (NaOH), KOH is a prototypical strong base. It has many industrial and niche applications, most of which exp ...
) and/or egg (either using only the egg white, yolk, or both). This class of lye-water noodles () has a subtle but distinctive smell and taste, described by some as being "eggy".


Rice

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 to add other plant starches to modify the texture of the noodles.


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.


Oat

In China, particularly in western Inner Mongolia and Shanxi province, oat (''Avena nuda'') flour is called ''yóu miàn'' (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 a 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.


Millet

The oldest archaeological evidence of noodles shows that they came from China and were made from millet, which is an indigenous crop to northern China. In 2005, a team of archaeologists reported finding an earthenware bowl that contained 4000-year-old noodles at the Lajia archaeological site. These noodles were said to resemble lamian, a type of Chinese noodle. Analyzing the husk
phytolith Phytoliths (from Greek, "plant stone") are rigid, microscopic structures made of silica, found in some plant tissues and persisting after the decay of the plant. These plants take up silica from the soil, whereupon it is deposited within different ...
s and
starch Starch or amylum is a polymeric carbohydrate consisting of numerous glucose units joined by glycosidic bonds. This polysaccharide is produced by most green plants for energy storage. Worldwide, it is the most common carbohydrate in human die ...
grains present in the sediment associated with the noodles, they were identified as millet belonging to ''
Panicum miliaceum ''Panicum miliaceum'' is a grain crop with many common names, including proso millet, broomcorn millet, common millet, hog millet, Kashfi millet, red millet, and white millet. Archaeobotanical evidence suggests millet was first domesticated abou ...
'' and '' Setaria italica''.


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 ''Char kway teow'' () is a stir-fried rice noodle dish from Maritime Southeast Asia and is of southern Chinese origin. In Hokkien and Teochew, ''char'' means 'stir-fried' and ''kway teow'' refers to flat rice noodles. It is made from flat ...
*
Chow mein ''Chow mein'' ( and , ; Pinyin: ''chǎomiàn'') is a Chinese dish made from stir-fried noodles with vegetables and sometimes meat or tofu. Over the centuries, variations of ''chǎomiàn'' were developed in many regions of China; there are s ...
*
Laksa Laksa is a spicy noodle dish popular in Southeast Asia. Laksa consists of various types of noodles, most commonly thick rice noodles, with toppings such as chicken, prawn or fish. Most variations of laksa are prepared with a rich and spicy coco ...
* Lo mein * Re gan mian * Wonton noodles * Zhajiangmian


See also

*
Chinese cuisine Chinese cuisine encompasses the numerous cuisines originating from China, as well as overseas cuisines created by the Chinese diaspora. Because of the Chinese diaspora and historical power of the country, Chinese cuisine has influenced many o ...
* Japanese noodles *
Korean noodles Korean noodles are noodles or noodle dishes in Korean cuisine, and are collectively referred to as ''"guksu"'' in native Korean or ''"myeon"'' in hanja character. Preparations with noodles are relatively simple and dates back to around BC 600 ...
* List of noodles * List of noodle dishes *
Noodle soup Noodle soup refers to a variety of soups with noodles and other ingredients served in a light broth. Noodle soup is a common dish across East Asia, Southeast Asia and the Himalayan states of South Asia. Various types of noodles are used, such a ...


References


External links


Cook's Thesaurus: Asian Noodles
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chinese Noodles Articles containing video clips