Chinese Noodles, from North to South
(通行南北的面条)
6 min read
Food plays an outsized role in Chinese culture, and among different Chinese foods, noodles may be the most loved. The type of noodle consumed in China differs from region to region. People in wheat growing areas prefer wheat noodles, while those in rice growing areas favor rice noodles. Moreover, different parts of the country have their own signature noodle dishes. There are likely thousands of these noodle dishes—each using different types of noodles, sauces, and seasonings. Thus, noodles in certain ways reflect regional differences, tastes, social habits, and even identity. They serve as comfort foods that people grow up with and by which they remember their hometowns. The following is a representative sample of Chinese people’s favorite noodle dishes—from north to south.
Beijing Zhajiangmian (北京炸酱面)
This is a humble dish (feature image) popular all over northern China. It uses a thick, fermented-soybean paste, together with a bit of minced pork-belly, to make the sauce. After stir-frying, the sauce becomes so rich and flavorful that only a small amount is needed for a whole bowl of noodles, hence the name fried-sauce noodles. In Beijing, the noodles are often paired with some seasonal vegetables.
Daoxiaomian (刀削面, aka shaved noodles)
After the dough is kneaded, it is shaped into a long, big lump and then shaved with a special knife (photo below) into willow-leaf shaped noodles into boiling water. The noodles, originally a northern dish but now popular all over China, can be paired with different ingredients and seasonings, and in soup or stir-fried. What attracts most people to this dish is the noodles’ al dente texture.
This dish is native to the Shanxi Province (陕西) and popular in Xi’an (西安市). These hand-made, inch-wide noodles are thick and wide like a belt. The name comes from the sound when the noodles hit on the work surface while being pulled. The stretching and banging of the dough help make the noodles chewy and shiny. The noodles go well with or without soup and can be mixed with seasonings to one’s taste. This once obscure Xi’an dish has been made widely-known across China and among Chinese diaspora communities worldwide by social media.
Juanziji (卷子鸡, aka rolled-pancake chicken)
This is a popular dinner dish in Gansu Province (甘肃). The cooking involves first rolling up a large, chewy, pancake, made from unleavened dough, and cutting the rolled-pancake into sections of about an inch wide. Chicken pieces and the pancake sections are then braised in seasonings and a sauce until the liquid is completely reduced. The pancake sections—spreading out like noodles and thoroughly absorbing the taste of the chicken and seasonings—become the focal point of this dish.
Nuiroumian (牛肉面, aka beef noodles)
A daily bowl of this noodles is a must for most Lanzhou (兰州) residents. It includes a clear broth with thick slides of turnip and made-to-order noodles being topped with chopped green onions. Most people would eat this dish with a healthy amount of chili sauce and a side dish of sliced beef. Lanzhou beef noodles are always made to order and one can order noodles in at least half a dozen thickness, widths, and shapes. The most common thin-noodle is number-2 thin (二细), which is about the thickness of spaghetti. The other extreme is the “belt” noodle (裤带面)—a single closed loop of an inch-wide noodle in a single serving.
Lanzhou beef noodles are made with hand-pulled noodles called lamian (拉面). As the name implies, hand-pulled noodles are formed by pulling the dough by hand into long, elastic strands and then folding them together. Each fold doubles the number of noodle strands. So just a few repetitions of pull-and-fold creates dozens of noodle strands—the more repetitions, the finer the noodles.
Dandanmian (担担面, aka dandan noodles)
This is probably the noodle dish with the most humble origin. It is so named because it was originally offered by street vendors, who carried the whole cooking setup on their shoulders on a pole called dan (担)—with a coal stove and pot on one end and a basket holding bowls, chopsticks, seasonings, and a bucket for washing dishes on the other. The main feature of this dish—the spicy sauce—is made with chili oil, preserved mustard (榨菜), brown peppercorn (花椒), sesame seed paste (麻酱), and minced pork belly. The taste is oily and spicy, yet tantalizing. This humble dish is usually offered by hole-in-the-wall type shops, yet is also sometimes served as a finishing dish in banquets.
Reganmian (热干面, aka hot-dry noodles)
This dish is prepared by mixing several flavors to freshly cooked noodles and then served immediately. The star of this disk is the sauce, which is made of sesame-seed paste, chopped green onions, spicy radish, and several other seasonings. Because it is convenient, fast, delicious, and is offered by street vendors all over Wuhan (武汉), this noodle dish has become the top breakfast choice for many Wuhan people.
Yuntunmian (云吞面, aka wonton noodles)
This dish, originally from Guangzhou (广州, aka Canton), is also popular in Hong Kong, Macao, and Southeast Asia. The most common form of this dish consists of wonton dumplings made from shrimp and pork fat and springy, chewy noodles served in a clear broth brewed from pork bones and dried flounder. There are plenty of variations of this popular dish, with wonton dumplings sometimes replaced by fish balls, braised beef brisket, or pork trotter.
The traditional way to make the noodles is to mix high-gluten flour, duck eggs, and water together with a weak alkaline-solution (碱水) to form a hard dough. The alkaline solution, usually from sodium carbonate, increases the elasticity of the dough, giving the noodles their distinct springy, crunchy bite. The noodle-maker then hooks a bamboo pole through a loop to allow the pole to become a lever. Then he sits on the end of the pole and bounces up and down and across a big batch of dough, using his weight to flatten the dough into a thin sheet, giving the noodles the name “bamboo-pole noodles” (竹升面). The pressing of the gluten particles together gives the noodle their signature elasticity. After resting, the dough is fed into a noodle marker to roll out into sheets and cut into the right thickness.
Stir-fried beef noodles (干炒牛河, aka Beef Chow Fun)
Prepared by stir-frying together marinated beef slices; flat, wide rice-noodles (河粉), and bean sprouts, this is Guangzhou’s signature dish. To prevent the silky and delicate rice noodles from breaking and sticking together, this stir-frying is done by quickly tossing the ingredients in high-heat with only light stirring. The ingredients would catch fire briefly under high heat, causing slight charring and a smoky flavor. Because of its simple yet difficult preparation, this humble dish is a true test of an accomplished Cantonese chef.
Luosifen (螺蛳粉, water-snail noodles)
This local dish from Guangxi (广西) has become popular all over southern China. Based on rice noodles, the star of this dish is the spicy, sour, and fishy soup made from simmering water snails, pork bones, and a variety of spices. Other ingredients include sour bamboo shoots, black fungus, peanuts, fried bean curd, and green vegetables. An authentic luosifen dish does not contain water snails, but only the soup is made with them. A packaged, instant-noodle version of luosifen has become popular wherever Chinese diaspora go.
Noodles are considered comfort food for many Chinese people because this food has been a staple in China for millennia. Eating noodles can evoke feelings of nostalgia and warmth, reminiscent of childhood and simpler times. Many of my friends are still nostalgia about eating a bowl of noodles as breakfast before going to school in our hometown Hong Kong.
Photo credit: Sohu.com, Baidu.com