15 Facts About Chinese noodles

Chinese noodles vary widely according to the region of production, ingredients, shape or width, and manner of preparation.

Chinese noodles can be made of wheat, buckwheat, rice, millet, oats, beans, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and even fish.

Chinese noodles have entered the cuisines of neighboring East Asian countries such as Korea and Japan, as well as Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand.

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, mian refers to noodles made from wheat flour, while fen or "fun" refers to noodles made from other starches, particularly rice flour and mung bean starch.

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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.

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.

Dough for Chinese 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 Chinese noodles.

Rice or other starch-based Chinese noodles are typically made with only the starch or rice flour and water.

Certain rice-Chinese 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 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.

Oldest archaeological evidence of Chinese noodles shows that they came from China and were made from millet, which is an indigenous crop to northern China.