Joyce_Li Regional Chinese Noodles

Background

The background for Yunnan Cross-The-Bridge Noodles is actually a interesting and famous one. As legend goes, there once was a scholar was studied very hard for the imperial exams. In order to stay focused, he would study on an isolated island that no one lived in. His wife, making sure that he could get food to eat while studying, would cross the bridge to this island everyday, bringing freshly cooked food. His favorite food was rice noodles, so she would often bring it over. However, this food would often be cold or mushy by the time she arrived at his location, leading to the scholar to pick at his food or only eat a little. Slowly, the scholar started losing weight, which concerned the wife. She knew she had to do something to improve the taste, so she came up with a genius idea. She would keep the broth separate from the noodles while she was carrying the noodles across. This way it would not get soggy. She also covered a broth with a layer of fat so it would stay hot for longer and cook the vegetables and the meat and fish would be mixed into the broth. This worked well, and the scholar ate it up. Later one, he would do well in the exam and make it as a well-ranked official. The tale spread around and now it is common to eat the Yunnan rice noodles by “crossing the bridge”, or adding the fare to the broth right at the meal-table.

Ingredients

• meat of some kind (pork, chicken seafood)
• vegetables (mushrooms, pickles)
• quail eggs
• various sauces, depended on the person and the region
• broth made from chicken, pork, or duck stock with a rich layer of fat on top
• fresh rice noodles

How it Relates to the Region

Dian cuisine is incredibly varied due to the influence of a lot of different ethnic minority groups. Yunan boasts the most amount of ethnic minority groups in China, from the Dai to the Bai to the Naxi people.

Mushrooms are commonly found in the regional people’s diet. This is because Yunnan boasts an incredibly biodiverse habitat and hosts over 900 different types of edible mushrooms. They also produce 90% percent of the country’s fungi production, making them a mushroom powerhouse.

Rice noodles are commonly found in the south, where rice cultivation was more common.

Background

Biang Biang Noodles is local to Xian and used to be only eaten by workers who lacked time to make thinner noodles, so they would instead make belt-like noodles and soak it with chili oil. They would slap the dough onto the countertop and it would create the signature slapping sounds that then became the namesake of the dish.

The character for Biang is notoriously intricate, with 58 strokes. It is technically not an official word, more of a folk-creation. It is known as one of the “eight curiosities of Shaanxi”. The character has the word “silk” and “horse” in it, an homage to Xian’s role as the eastern terminus of the silk road and the horses that transported these goods.

Ingredients

• chili flakes
• scallion
• garlic
• ginger
• cumin
• vinegar

How it Relates to its Region

Northern provinces have a fondness for lamb since it considered a “warming food”. This helps them stay warm in the harsh winters of China. Plus, Qin cuisine is considered fragrant spicy due to its geographical location between Shanxi and Sichuan. They tend to veer towards sour and spicy, and rarely add sugar into their dishes. This explains the strong presence of vinegar and chili flakes in their dishes. Northern provinces also really enjoy their noodle dishes, since their staple food was anything made from wheat flour for most of the imperial China. This means that 面 and all the other types of 并 is their main source of carbohydrates. Shaanxi has the widest variety of noodle dishes in China.

Background

Hong Kong wonton noodles is a type of wonton noodle soup that utilizes shrimp wontons, wonton egg noodles, and a clear broth to create a light but flavorful dish.

Wonton noodles originated in Guangzhou during Qing dynasty and was introduced to Hong Kong by Mak Woon-chi, a famous chef who opened “Mak’s Noodle” in Central. he even famously served Chiang Kai Sheik this dish when he visited Hong Kong. Wonton 馄饨 means “swallowing a cloud, which is a good description for how the wonton feels when eating it, as it is soft but packed with flavors.

There are multiple variations on wonton noodles in Shanghai, Cambodia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, etc. Shanghai’s version of it is made only from pork, which Hong Kong’s is mainly if not all from shrimp.

The noodles must be blanched for ten seconds and then rinsed under cold water to maintain its springiness. Traditionally when serving, the spoon is to be placed at the bottom, wonton above the spoon, and the noodles above the wontons. This ensures that the noodles are not overcooked in the process to plating to serving the dish.

Ingredients

• shrimp mashed into smaller pieces to put into wontons (sometimes is 30% pork)
• wonton skin
• wonton noodles cooked al dente
• garnished with gai lan or choi sum
• yellow chives / green onions
• chicken broth
• fish sauce
• sesame oil
• white pepper
• optional: red rice vinegar

How it Relates to its Region

Wonton noodles originate from Hong Kong and Southern China. The people there often utilize fresh seafood since it is by the sea, which explains the shrimp in the dish. Yue cuisine also veers towards a light flavor that allows users to taste the food’s original flavors. They have a penchant towards the sweet, savoury, and umami, which explains the prominence of fish sauce and white pepper in the dish and the choice of chicken soup for the broth.

Background

Zhajiang mian is very popular and has variations in Beijing, Korea, Japan, Sichuan, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Carolyn Philips, author of “All Under Heaven, Recipes from 35 cuisines of China, believes that it originated in Northeast China and got popularized in Beijing. This makes sense, as many popular chinese noodle dishes are created by Hui muslims.

Ingredients

• sweet wheat sauce (wheat flour, sugar, salt)
• dry yellow soy bean paste
• cucumber slivers
• hefty fresh wheat noodles
• skin on pork belly
• savory with sweet and a bunch of umami
• popular variations on the recipe:
  • mushrooms (taiwan)
  • slivered carrots
  • greens
  • green soybeans (taiwan)
  • dry cubed tofu
  • rolled egg
  • scallions

How Ingredients Relate to the Origin

Wheat flour pasta is a specialty of northern China as the Yangzi basin was the main place for wheat production. This happened in the wake of the political turmoil that happened in the 10th century after the Mongols.

Soybeans originated from northeast China around 3000 years ago, so many dishes in this area have soybeans in it.

Northern noodle dishes are often made to be heavy and contain a lot of oil to make it a more “warming” dish, since winters in northern China can be quite brutal.

Background

This dish is a local street food item in Fujian, which is commonly eaten with 扁肉. It is a common breakfast or 小吃 dish, and can be found on almost every street corner of Fujian.

I personally have very fond memories of eating this dish, as it was both simple and cheap and easy to eat. A set of Ban Mian along with the 扁肉 would cost around 10 rmb in China nowadays, but it used to be around 5 rmb growing up. Eating this still makes me think of the simpler days of my childhood.

Ingredients

• peanut butter (peanut oil and paste)
• sesame oil
• soy sauce
• pasta water
• scallions
• wonton noodles
• lard

How it Relates to its Region

A light umami flavor is representative Min cuisine, which emphasizes retaining the original flavor of the dish. Wonton noodles are a southern speciality, explaining the egg noodle’s appearance in this dish.

Peanuts was introduced to China during the Wan-Li period either from Malayian archipelago or from Phillipines to Fujian (Early notices of the peanut in china, Goodrich), which explains the strange existence of peanuts in a dish like this. Peanut cultivation was also generally done in the south eastern provinces.

Works Cited

Carrington, Goodrich L. “EARLY NOTICES of the PEANUT in CHINA.” Monumenta Serica, vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 405–409. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40702956, https://doi.org/10.2307/40702956. Accessed 23 Apr. 2025.

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Mandy, Apple. “A Guide to 12 Types of Chinese Noodles.” Kitchn, 14 Jan. 2023, www.thekitchn.com/types-of-chinese-noodles-23494538.

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rackoflam. “Fujianese Peanut Noodles (Ban Mian 拌面).” RACK of LAM, 28 Mar. 2024, rackoflam.com/fujianese-peanut-noodles-ban-mian/. Accessed 21 Mar. 2025.

Radii, Staff. “Mian’splained: An Illustrated Guide to Chinese Noodles, Part One – RADII.” RADII – Transcend Boundaries, 9 Apr. 2020, radii.co/article/chinese-noodles-illustrated-guide. Accessed 22 Mar. 2025.

Sofia, Chang. “Crossing the Bridge Noodles.” Silk Club, 7 Apr. 2022, www.silkclubatx.com/post/crossing-the-bridge-noodles. Accessed 23 Apr. 2025.

“Soy Story: The History of the Soybean.” Eating China, www.eatingchina.com/articles/soystory.htm.

Williams, Vicki. “How Does Hong Kong’s Wonton Compare with Singapore’s or Malaysia’s?” South China Morning Post, 12 Aug. 2019, www.scmp.com/magazines/style/leisure/article/3022402/how-does-hong-kongs-version-wonton-noodles-compare. Accessed 21 Mar. 2025.

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