8 Famous Noodles to Try in China
China is a foodie heaven, showcased in the eight Great cuisines and thousands of dishes and delicacies, from vegetarian foods, medicinal foods, and street snacks. But it isn’t all about dining in the luxury restaurants with a rich feast. It also shows very unique style and great attainments in noodle – a simple but very popular food in China. Noodles are easy to cook, with a wide range of cooking methods and ever-changing flavors. Here is a list of China’s top 8 noodles that you should not miss during your authentic Foodie Tours in China.
1. Fried Bean Sauce Noodles (炸酱面)
One of China’s most famous noodles and Beijing's most iconic noodles – the noodles are stirred with small pieces of vegetables and fried sauce. Prepare the cucumber, cedrela sinensis, bean sprouts, green beans and soybeans as the side dishes. Then fry the bean source based on ground meat, onion, ginger and soybean paste.
Fried bean sauce noodles are also very popular in other parts of northern China, such as Shaanxi, Tianjin, Shanghai, Guangdong, but the cooking method vary a bit in each place. South Korea also has fried bean sauce noodles, which is brought to South Korea by overseas Chinese from Shandong, with spring sauce (black bean sauce) as the seasoning, plus Onions, shrimp, meat and so on.
2. Hot Dry Noodle (热干面)
It is Huhan people’s favorite food, and the most popular breakfast in Wuhan. The noodles are in medium size and of light yellow color. Sesame paste is the soul of this dish. Other ingredients include Salad oil, sesame oil, red oil, chives, garlic seeds, radish diced, pickled beans, brine sauce, light soy sauce, vinegar, etc. Hot dry noodles taste slightly spicy and salty.
Wuhan hot-and-dry noodles, old Beijing fried bean noodles, Shanxi sliced noodles, Lanzhou ramen noodles and Sichuan Dan Dan noodles have always been known as "China's five top noodles".
3. Shanxi Sliced Noodles (山西刀削面)
The sliced noodles feature authentic Shanxi flavor. Knead dough into regiment, and slice it into medium-thick pieces and boil them. When the noodles are done, add minced meat and seasonings.
Shanxi sliced noodles are also called "emperor's son-in-law noodles". It is said that Shanxi sliced noodles were invented by Chai Shao, the husband of a princess in the Tang Dynasty. The noodles were cut with a knife, shaped like willow leaves so they got the name.
4. Lanzhou Hand Pull Noodles (兰州拉面)
Hand-pulled noodle is a type of Lanzhou noodle. It’s very dramatic to watch the noodles being made. The dough is twisted, stretched and folded, then made into strands. The side dishes include sliced cucumber, chill oil, egg, beef and coriander Leaf. And the soup is boiled by cattle bones or sheep bones.
Lanzhou Hand Pull Noodles is definitely the most popular noodles in China, as Lanzhou Hand Pull Noodles can be found almost every city of China. As such, it is also regarded as a Chinese fast food.
5. Dan Dan Noodles (担担面)
A popular dish in the gourmet city Chengdu, and a classic dish of Sichuan Cuisine, Dan Dan Noodles are made by hand roll noodles, garnished with red chili oil, sesame paste, chopped green onion and other ingredients, and taste excellent.
It is said that Dan Dan Noodles was created by a peddler named Chen Baobao in Zigong in 1841. The pole Chen Baobao used to carry Dan Dan noodles had a coal stove on one end and a copper pot on top. The copper pot is separated by two grids, one grid cooking noodles, one grid stewing chicken. At the other end of the pole there are chopsticks, spices, and a bucket for washing dishes.
6. Pian Er Chuan Noodles (片儿川)
A famous local delicacy in Hangzhou, the noodles are cooked with light soup, and stirred with delicious toppings including fresh potherb mustard, fresh bamboo shoots and lean meat.
The century-old kuiyuanguan (奎元馆面店) Restaurant has Pian Er Chuan Noodles as its signature dish, and is known as the best place to taste Pian Er Chuan.
7. Stewed Noodles (烩面)
Stewed Noodles is another famous noodles in China, and a traditional dish of Yu Cuisine, in Henan province, Central China. This dish combines meat, vegetables, soup, noodles and rice. There are mutton stewed noodles, beef stewed noodles and five-delicacies stewed noodles.
The essence of the stewed noodles is the soup. The best tender mutton and lamb bone are cooked together for more than five hours, added with seven or eight Chinese medicines. The soup is bright white, like milk, so some people call it white soup. When cooking, put the original broth in the pot, pull the noodles into thin strips into, garnished with sliced kelp, sliced tofu, vermicelli, coriander, quail eggs, sea cucumber, squid, etc., and served with coriander, chili oil, sugar garlic and other small dishes when it is ready in the end.
8. Wonton Noodles (馄饨面)
Wonton Noodles are most famous in Hong Kong and Canton area. The wonton stuffing is made of lean meat, shrimps, crabs or any other sea food. And the noodles are cooked in chicken soup or nutrition soup.
The best wonton noodles must have "three characteristics". First they must be silver noodles made of bamboo. Second, the stuffing of the wanton must be made of three-part fat and seven-part lean pork, and wrapped with the egg yolk. Third, the soup should be braised with flounder and pig bones.
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