Lamian (; "pulled noodles") is a type of soft wheat flour Chinese noodle that is particularly common in

northern China Northern China () and Southern China () are two approximate regions that display certain differences in terms of their geography, demographics, economy, and culture. Extent The Qinling, Qinling–Daba Mountains serve as the transition zone ...

. Lamian is made by twisting, stretching and folding the dough into strands, using the weight of the dough. The length and thickness of the strands depends on the number of times the dough is folded.

History

The unique method of making lamian noodles originated in China. The earliest description of making lamian noodles with the pulling technique is found in the ''Songshi Yangsheng Bu'' (宋氏養生部), a dietary manual written in 1504 by Song Xu (宋詡), an agriculturalist and gastronomer of the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...

Description

The hand-making process involves taking a lump of dough and repeatedly stretching it to produce many strands of thin, long noodle. Literally, ''lā'', (拉) means to pull or stretch, while ''miàn'' () means noodle. There are several styles of twisting the dough but they all employ the same concept: a piece of soft wheat dough is repeatedly stretched and folded onto itself in order to align the glutens and warm up the dough for stretching. Then it is rolled out to a workable thickness and cut into workable portions. The end pieces of the starting dough are never used because the glutens are not as aligned as the middle pieces. This dough is then pulled to about an arm span's length. The puller then makes a loop with the dough, joining the two ends into one clump of dough and inserts his fingers into the loop to keep the strand from sticking to itself. Doing this, the pull has doubled the length of the dough while fractioning its thickness. This process is repeated several times until the desired thickness and quantity is achieved. Some pullers dip the strands into flour between stretching phases to keep them separated. When flour is used, there generally is a final slap of noodles against the prep board to remove excess flour. In the Lanzhou style, the dough is worked aggressively. It is pulled in straight, quick, tugs with no twisting or waving. Some pullers regularly slam the noodle against their prep boards to ensure even stretching and uniform thickness. Flour is sometimes used to dust the strands and prevent sticking. In the Beijing style of preparation, the dough is twisted, stretched delicately by waving the arms and body, untwisted, looped to double the strands and then repeated. When stretching, they coordinate waving their torso and arms to increase the potential length of the noodle beyond that of the puller's arm span. Flour dusting is more liberally employed in this style than in the Lanzhou style of preparation. There is also another style, in which the noodle maker stretches one thick, flat strand of dough between two hands. This is usually done for show and involves the puller twirling and spinning much like Chinese ribbon dancing.

Usage

Dishes using lamian are usually served in a beef-flavored soup called ''tangmian'' (, literally 'soup noodles'). However, they are sometimes stir-fried and served with a sauce as a dish called ''chaomian'' (, literally 'fried noodles'). This word is etymologically related to chow mein though the dish itself is different.

Region

China

Shanghai-Lanzhou-Zhengzong-Niurou-Lamian-2782

Small restaurants serving Lanzhou-style lamian are very common throughout Western China where they have formed a staple diet for centuries, as well as Eastern Chinese cities. They tend to serve a variety of low cost meals, with a choice of lamian, knife-cut noodles and perhaps

Xi'an Xi'an is the list of capitals in China, capital of the Chinese province of Shaanxi. A sub-provincial city on the Guanzhong plain, the city is the third-most populous city in Western China after Chongqing and Chengdu, as well as the most populou ...

-style '' paomo'' (steamed bread dipped in soup). Noodles may be served with beef or mutton, either in soup or stir-fried. Lamian can also be served cold with salad ingredients such as shredded cucumber and tomato to make a refreshing summer dish. Most of the lamian restaurants in China are owned by Hui ethnic families from Northwestern China and serve only

halal ''Halal'' (; ) is an Arabic word that translates to in English. Although the term ''halal'' is often associated with Islamic dietary laws, particularly meat that is slaughtered according to Islamic guidelines, it also governs ethical practices ...

food (thus no pork dishes). Lamian restaurants are the most common halal restaurants in Eastern China. Another typical variety of ''lamian'' is

Shandong Shandong is a coastal Provinces of China, province in East China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River. It has served as a pivotal cultural ...

lamian, produced in Yantai, Shandong Province.

United States

In New York's Manhattan and Sunset Park Chinatowns, lamian restaurants are a common sight. Most are run by

Fuzhou Fuzhou is the capital of Fujian, China. The city lies between the Min River (Fujian), Min River estuary to the south and the city of Ningde to the north. Together, Fuzhou and Ningde make up the Eastern Min, Mindong linguistic and cultural regi ...

nese, some featuring knife-cut noodles, but most featuring only the hand-cut versions. In Manhattan Chinatown, most are located in the Fuzhounese area of Chinatown east of Bowery, while in Sunset Park, sometimes referred to as Fuzhou Town, they are scattered along the 8th Avenue strip.

Philippines

Filipino Chinatown restaurants serve lamian, which somewhat resembles the popular local pancit canton of Filipino cuisine.

Germany

Munich and Frankfurt am Main have Chinese restaurants specialized in serving lamian, located near their respective main train stations.

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:La Mian Chinese inventions Chinese noodles Noodle dishes