Chinese Noodles

We do know that the Chinese since the Han dynasty have been feasting on noodles for at least 5,000 years. Actually, some experts believe that the Italians got their first taste of pasta after Marco Polo returned home from his long trek across China with an abundant of exotic food items, including noodles. China is a large agricultural country who rely on grain a lot, one of the staples they eat to provide their harmonious dietary balance is noodles.

Noodles is one of the most important ingredients in Chinese cooking . Chinese noodles come in all sizes and shapes, various from round to flat from wide to thin. Though varying in shapes, according to Chinese tradition it works as a symbolization of a good health and long life, therefore, noodles should be served long and the best possible uncut. Always served at birthday celebrations, noodles symbolize the wish that the person's life would be as long as the noodles.

Chinese noodles

Different types of noodles as China has, it is generally called mian. Noodles are eaten hot or cold, stir-fried, deep-fried, steamed, boiled, or served in a soup. The nutritionally-inclined noodles are an absolute excellent source of protein. Besides being low in calories, they are extremely high in complex carbohydrates.

 

The very first noodle to recommend is Zhajiangmian, which literally translates as "fried sauce noodles." It is a northern Chinese dish made up of thick wheat noodles topped with a mixture of meet paste stir-fried with sweet noodle sauce (tianmianjiang). Some Chinese restaurants refer this dish as "brown meat sauce noodles" or "noodles with fried bean and meat sauce." While in the west, it is sometimes called as "Chinese spaghetti".

 

Second to introduce is lo mein, it involves tossing boiled noodles in the wok and mixing them with other ingredients (like cucumber, boiled soy bean, the mixture paste made of egg, tomato, meat, fresh shrimp and black fungus etc.) during the final stage of cooking. This allows the noodles to pick up more of the sauce flavor.

 

Both zhajiangmian and lo mian can be ate accompanied by cold sliced cucumber, vinegar, garlic or anything you like.

At last, if you still have room, the Lanzhou lamian is also recommended. Lanzhou is the Provincial capital of Gansu province in China, most of them believe in Islam so it's usually served in a beef or mutton-flavored soup. Lamian is a dish of hand-pulled noodles. Literally, "la" means to stretch or to pull. The hand-making process is an art that involves holding the stretched out paste in both hands and whirling it around several times. Then the paste is laid out on a board and folded and refolded repeatedly till the paste is transformed into long, thin, noodles which are then ready for served.