Making noodles in China often goes beyond cooking and becomes an art form in and of itself. This includes pulling, peeling, and slicing fresh dough. A particular type of air-dried, hand-stretched noodle has been produced by a group of noodle makers in Nanshan, a village in the eastern province of Zhejiang, for 300 years despite the fact that different parts of the nation prepare their noodles differently. Now, only 300 people worldwide still have the knowledge and expertise necessary to create the region’s unique version of the Suomian noodle.
The noodle master in the video claims that “our noodles would be trash if it’s a [rainy] day.” “We must rely on the weather to produce Suomian.” ”.
A Nanshan noodle master is seen in a video posted to the YouTube channel More China last month going through the laborious, mesmerizing process required to create the ideal string of dough. In the video, it is stated that stretching the noodles requires the cooperation of two people. After that, the food is dried by being wrapped 60 times around two poles. The noodles are then stretched even further and hung outside on a sizable wooden rack to resemble delectable drapes blowing in the wind.
The only catch is that the weather needs to be ideal in order to make the noodles. The entire batch could be ruined by a little rain, turning the noodles into “mud.” “.
More Chinese Noodle History:
I found Chinese noodle history fascinating!
Noodles are mentioned in a venerable old ode by poet Shu Shi from around 300 BCE. One can speculate that noodles must have been a staple of the Chinese home at that time because poetry at that time was used to enshrine cultural topics.
Noodles were a staple of Chinese culture by the Han Dynasty (), which began in early 200AD. It was commonly seen as sheets or strips and was referred to as cake (). With time, wheat, rice, and occasionally mung bean starch were used to make Chinese noodles. Noodles were available in shops in all major Chinese cities by the Song Dynasty (960–1279 AD), and thanks to Chinese influence, they also became popular in Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Thailand, Cambodia, and other nations.
This type of noodle was produced during the Han Dynasty and was particularly prized for the artistic way in which the dough was stretched lengthwise between both hands and folded over and over into a thin form. The 4,000 year old noodles discovered in Lajia are said to look like l miàn noodles, meaning they are the ancestor of ramen. Long noodles, also known as longevity noodles or cháng shu miàn, are still regarded as a symbol of long life in Chinese culture.
Pulling LaMian 拉麵 noodles! SOURCE: Kenneth Chan. [email protected]
Even today, noodle festivals, events, and celebrations in Asia are very important. Chinese newlyweds eat noodles with gravy () when they move into their first home as a sign of a “flavored life.” Chinese people eat noodles with dragon whiskers on the lunar new year, which they refer to as “dragon head” ().
Here are some examples of how stories about noodles have helped communities grow:
On sunny days, villagers in Panzhoujia Village, Jinhua City, east China’s Zhejiang Province, typically eat dry noodles. SOURCE: Chinapic. people. com. cn.
德兴馆 (De Xing Guan) : A Shanghai noodle shop chain. The original, which is in Shanghai, debuted in 1878 and is said to have had connections to Emperor Qianlong.
Read on to learn about noodles according to my research!
SOURCE: Nature/KBK Teo/E Minoux et al. The oldest noodles ever discovered
Although the bowl of noodles in the picture doesn’t look great, it is very significant!
In 2005, a bowl of noodles was found preserved inside an overturned bowl. Judging by the wreck found around this archaeological site in Lagia, China, the bowl was buried under ten feet of sediment during an earthquake or some sort of sudden catastrophe. The noodles were 4,000 years old! The Institute of Geology and Geophysics at Beijings Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Houyuan Lu said it was “the earliest empirical evidence of noodles ever found.”
It was discovered after studying microscopic mineral fragments that these ancient noodles were produced when wheat was not widely used in China. Prior to the arrival of the knowledge of milling via the Silk Road, wheat was unknown to the Chinese. These Chinese noodles were made of two types of millet rather than the wheaty pasta that one might typically associate with noodles. Chinese natives used millet as a staple grain that was ground into flour, turned into dough, and possibly formed into shapes. Even today, some rural Chinese communities without access to wheat continue to prepare noodles in a similar manner using millet.
In 2013, ex-foreign journalist and founder of Beijing’s award-winning Black Sesame Kitchen Jen Lin-Liu wrote On the Noodle Road: From Beijing to Rome, with Love and Pasta. After embarking on an eater’s dream (an edible tour through China, Central Asia, Iran, Turkey, Italy, and Greece), she discovered that “the earliest Chinese noodles were shaped into little bits, formed from bread dough.” That noodle still exists in China, today and it’s called main pain.
Mai fun, rice vermicelli. SOURCE: MR.PATCHARAPHON/Shutterstock
SOURCE: Enny Nuraheni/Reuters
FAQ
Did ancient China invent noodles?
Origin. Noodles are mentioned for the first time in writing in a book from the Eastern Han period (25-220 CE). Wheat dough noodles became a popular dish for the people of the Han dynasty. Noodles were first documented 4,000 years ago in China.
How was noodle made?
Unleavened wheat dough is typically used to make noodles, which are then stretched, extruded, or rolled before being cut into a variety of shapes. In Asia, noodles make up 20% to 50% of all the wheat that is consumed, and their appeal has spread to many nations outside of Asia (Hou, 2010a).
How was pasta invented in China?
According to a legend, spaghetti is descended from noodles because, in the late 13th century, Venetian nobleman and merchant Marco Polo brought long, worm-like noodles from China to Italy. However, the Chinese origins of Italian pasta are a myth to many.
