History of Chinese Noodles - Facts and Types of Chinese Noodles

Chinese boiled noodles represent one of the core staples of their entire cuisine. They can be found in hundreds of variations inside countless dishes, which has fueled not only by the changes in cooking fashion over the entire history of Chinese nation, but also because of regional preferences. The earliest known noodles found in China are dated to 4 thousand years ago. They were found in archeological findings near the Yellow River in China. However, first concrete written records of noodles come from the time when Eastern Han Dynasty reigned between 25 and 200 AD. Those early noodles were made usually from wheat dough, and they became more and more popular as centuries went on. By the time of Song Dynasty (960–1279 AD), noodles could be purchased in major Chinese cities from noodle shops. As Chinese influence spread across Asia, noodles become used heavily in Korea, Japan, Philippines, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and others.

Traditional noodles made in China are produced from one of the three main ingredients – wheat flour (most popular), rice flour and mung bean starch. Before they are cooked or used as part of other meals, they are cut using one of the five techniques – Cut (with knife from folded sheet of dough), Extruded (dough pushed by machine through small holes), Peeled (slices of large dough are cut directly into boiling water), Pulled (stretched dough that is folded to create thinner strands) and Kneaded (rolled dough to the point of desired shape).

Most popular dishes in Chinese cuisine that utilize noodles are without any doubt Beef chow fun, Ban mian, Cart noodle, Char kway teow, Cup Noodles, Zhajiang mian, Laksa, Lo mein and Re gan mian.

Types of Chinese Noodles:

Wheat noodles – They are created using only water and wheat fluor, either to be boiled or baked. Some of the most popular wheat noodles are Cat’s Ear noodles, Cold noodles, Lamian, Yaka mein (similar to spaghetti), Lo mein (fried with vegetables), Misua (around 1 millimeter thin strands), Saang mein, Thick noodles, Dao xiao mian and others.
Lye-water or egg noodles – Most popular types are Oil noodles, Thin Noodles (one of the most common in entire China), Mee pok, Yi Mein, Shrimp roe noodles and Jook-sing noodles (rare delicacy).
Rice – They are made either by cutting rice slurry into sheets that is cut into smaller strands, or by extruding rice paste. Most popular types are Kway teow, “Ho fun, Chow fun” (flat and wide), Lai fun, Mai sin and Rice vermicelli.
Starch – Most popular types are winter noodles (thin mung bean starch), Bean threads (almost thin like cellophane), Mung bean sheets (wide and clear), Liang pi (translucent) and Silver needle noodles (spindle-shaped),