Noodle soups are quinessential chinese food.
Noodles are creative manipulation of different grains milled into flour and turned into long strings, strips, thin or thick or squares and all sorts of shapes.
There are so many different types of chinese noodles around that if I were to try 1 type a day, it might take me months to complete the entire range.
Noodles can be served dried, semi-dried or in soups. It can be served hot or cold.
Let us take a look at some common varieties:
Dried wheat noodles
The dried wheat noodles are also the inspiration for the Japanese instant noodles. Unlike instant noodles, these are normally sold without flavour packs. Southern chinese like to add egg to the noodle mix to create dried egg noodles.
Flour Vermicelli
Another type of dried wheat noodle is called the flour vermicelli 面线 (mian xian). It literally means wheat threads because the noodle strand is very thin.
It is one of my favorite noodles as I like the soft smooth silky texture. It is almost always served as thickened soup because the noodles themselves is starchy. Leave a bowl of mian xian soup for a while and the mian xian will expand and turn the soup thick. Love it!
Egg noodles
This fresh egg noodles that I am referring to is yellow in colour. It is much thicker than the dried wheat noodle. Parboil for 2 minutes before serving in soup to get rid of excess oil.
It is served in prawn noodle soup 虾面汤 (xia mian tang), 炒粿条 (chao guo tiao) and 福建炒面 (fu jian chao mian) (also known as fried dark hokkien noodles).
Rice noodles
This is made from rice flour and are available in broad sheets, round threads, or vermicelli (like angel hair pasta). It is usually sold dried. It has a translucent appearance and will turn white when cooked.
The broad sheets is known as 粿条 (gou tiao) in mandarin, great in fishball soup. The vermicelli is known as 米粉 (mi fen) in mandarin.
Mung bean vermicelli
Known also as bean threads or 粉丝 (fen si) in mandarin, this noodle is made from mung beans. I like mung bean vermicelli in hot soups, Vietnamese spring rolls and salads. Grandma also like to stir-fry it with mixed vegetables. It needs to be parboiled or soaked to soften it if used in non-soupy dishes.
Japanese noodles
Ramen
Ramen is famous internationally. Made from wheat flour, egg and water and almost always found in hot soups. There are both fresh and dried versions.
Many instant noodles call themselves ramen but they are a far cry from the real thing. The texture is different.
Somen
This is a very fine and thin Japanese wheat flour noodles which can be used in stir fried or noodle soups. I seldom come across noodle soup recipes using somen though. Perhaps I am not looking hard enough.
Soba
Soba is made from highly nutritious buckwheat mixed with plain flour. It is thick and is chewy. It is good in hot soups or as a cold dish. They are either green or brown in color. Again, they can be dried or fresh.
Udon
Udon is a thick soft wheat flour noodle, almost always served in hot soups. However, localisation has seen it being used in stir-fries in Southeast Asia.
Still yummy although chefs must take care not to overcook the noodles. They can become a goofy mess.
Final Note
I thought I know a lot about chinese noodles until I started writing this page. I know so little. Trying to find English equivalent names and grappling with bad translated versions has been frustrating. I'll come back to work on more details in the future. In the meantime, if you have questions, just ask. Now for some cooking.
Recipes for noodle soups
Try these noodle soups recipes.
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