Other names for rice noodle sticks
Names of rice noodle sticks include:
- Rice sticks
- Pho noodles
- Banh Pho
- Chantaboon
All About Rice Noodle Sticks
Rick noodle sticks look like fettuccine shaped noodles. To make rice noodle sticks, thinly slice flexible white processed rice sheets.
Sen lek, a Thai word for “small noodles,” are a common ingredient in pad thai dishes. Their medium-width, flat surface allows them to absorb flavorful liquids like lime juice, fish sauce, and tamarind while remaining firm enough to withstand a quick toss in a pan. Naturally, there are many other recipes you can make with these noodles besides pad thai. They can also be included in soups like Tom Yum. This variety of noodle is frequently called “rice stick” on packaging in the English language. Given that Chantaboon is a nickname for the Thai city of Chanthaburi, which is known for its rice noodle cuisine, you might hear people refer to them as Chantaboon rice stick noodles.
The normal rice noodle found swirling through a bowl of pho is medium-wide, flat, and roughly ⅛” to ¼” thick (imagine fettuccine instead of vermicelli). It is typically made mostly of water and glutinous rice flour, and once it’s wet, you can slurp it into your mouth in a matter of milliseconds because of its delicate, smooth texture. Although it’s simpler to locate bánh pho as dried noodles, some Asian markets also sell it fresh, under the name bánh pho tươi, in the refrigerator section. However, pho doesn’t have to be made with this particular type of noodle. Thus, for convenience or personal preference, add thinner or thicker rice noodles.
These rice noodles from China’s Yunnan Province are round and somewhat thick (think spaghetti or bucatini but not hollow). They’re made from non-glutinous rice flour and have a firm, slippery texture. Each strand stays separate rather than clumping together. These noodles are featured in a famous Yunnan dish called guo qiao mixian, also referred to as crossing bridge noodles, or just Yunnan Noodle Soup as on the blog The Woks of Life. In the US you might be hard-pressed to find a package of noodles called mixian, as it’s known in Yunnan. Instead, you might found packages labeled as vermicelli or Jiangxi noodles, since this style of rice noodles is also enjoyed in the Jianxi Province in China.
We can’t live without store-bought noodles in our pantries, but homemade noodles are like no other—they’re chewy, earthy, and ridiculously enjoyable. Thus, put on an apron and allow us to demonstrate how to make your own noodles. We have delicious recipes, professional advice, helpful guides, and a ton more.
These very fine noodles appear in many dishes in Vietnam—stuffed inside a pliable rice noodle sheet in a gỏi cuốn, or summer roll, or served chilled as a bed for a salad. They’re predominantly called vermicelli in English. But, of course, they’re made with rice—usually glutinous rice flour. As Andrea Nguyen explains on her website Viet World Kitchen, some makers add a touch of tapioca flour to give it more chew. Dried, they appear translucent white in crinkly bundles, like a bird’s nest. Once cooked, they become opaque, soft, and pliable, with just enough stretch to bounce back when you bite into a mound of them.
