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Type | Noodle |
---|---|
Place of origin | China |
Region or state | East Asia and Southeast Asia |
Main ingredients | Rice flour, water |
Variations | Bánh canh, bánh phở, khanom chin, kuān tiáo, lai fun, mixian, rice vermicelli, sevai, shahe fen |
Rice noodles, or simply rice noodle, are noodles made with rice flour and water as the principal ingredients. Sometimes ingredients such as tapioca or corn starch are added in order to improve the transparency or increase the gelatinous and chewy texture of the noodles. Rice noodles are most common in the cuisines of China, India and Southeast Asia. They are available fresh, frozen, or dried, in various shapes, thicknesses and textures. Fresh noodles are also highly perishable; their shelf life may be just several days.
The origin of rice noodles dates back to China during the Qin dynasty when people from northern China invaded the south. Due to climatic conditions, the northern Chinese have traditionally preferred wheat and millet which grew in cold weather while the southern Chinese preferred rice which grew in hot weather. Noodles are traditionally made out of wheat and eaten throughout northern China so to adapt, northern cooks tried to prepare "noodles" using rice, thus inventing rice noodles. Over time rice noodles and their processing methods have been introduced around the world, becoming especially popular in Southeast Asia. [1] In India, idi-appam, strings of cooked rice, was known in ancient Tamil country around 1st century AD, as per references in the Sangam literature, according to food historian K. T. Achaya. [2]
The shelf life may be extended by drying and removing its moisture content. Studies of drying rice noodles were conducted by the International Food Research Journal. [3]
Pasta made from brown rice flour is also available (in health food stores in Western nations) as an alternative to wheat flour-based noodles for individuals who react poorly to gluten.
Vietnamese cuisine encompasses the foods and beverages of Vietnam. Meals feature a combination of five fundamental tastes : sweet, salty, bitter, sour, and spicy. The distinctive nature of each dish reflects one or more elements, which are also based around a five-pronged philosophy.
Cellophane noodles, or fensi, sometimes called glass noodles, are a type of transparent noodle made from starch and water. A stabilizer such as chitosan may also be used.
Singaporean cuisine is derived from several ethnic groups in Singapore and has developed through centuries of political, economic, and social changes in the cosmopolitan city-state.
Pancit, also spelled pansít, is a general term referring to various traditional noodle dishes in Filipino cuisine. There are numerous types of pancit, often named based on the noodles used, method of cooking, place of origin, equal and constant diameter or the ingredients. Most pancit dishes are characteristically served with calamansi, as its freshly squeezed juice may be used for additional seasoning.
Noodle soup refers to a variety of soups with noodles and other ingredients served in a light broth. Noodle soup is a common dish across East Asia, Southeast Asia and the Himalayan states of South Asia. Various types of noodles are used, such as rice noodles, wheat noodles and egg noodles.
Chinese Indonesian cuisine is characterized by the mixture of Chinese with local Indonesian style. Chinese Indonesians, mostly descendant of Han ethnic Hokkien and Hakka speakers, brought their legacy of Chinese cuisine, and modified some of the dishes with the addition of Indonesian ingredients, such as kecap manis, palm sugar, peanut sauce, chili, santan and local spices to form a hybrid Chinese-Indonesian cuisine. Some of the dishes and cakes share the same style as in Malaysia and Singapore, known as Nyonya cuisine by the Peranakan.
Rice vermicelli is a thin form of noodle. It is sometimes referred to as "rice noodles" or "rice sticks", but should not be confused with cellophane noodles, a different Asian type of vermicelli made from mung bean starch or rice starch rather than rice grains themselves.
Fried noodles are common throughout East Asia, Southeast Asia and South Asia. Many varieties, cooking styles, and ingredients exist.
Shahe fen (沙河粉), or simply he fen (河粉), is a type of wide Chinese noodle made from rice. Its Minnan Chinese name, translated from the Mandarin 粿條 (guotiao), is adapted into alternate names which are widely encountered in Southeast Asia, such as kway teow, kwetiau, and kuetiau. Shahe fen is often stir-fried with meat and/or vegetables in a dish called chao fen. While chao fen is a transliteration of Mandarin, chow fun from Cantonese is the name most often given to the dish in Chinese restaurants in North America.
Vietnamese cuisine includes many types of noodles. They come in different colors and textures and can be served wet or dry, hot or cold, and fresh (tươi), dried (khô), or fried.
Lomi or pancit lomi is a Filipino dish made with a variety of thick fresh egg noodles of about a quarter of an inch in diameter, soaked in lye water to give it more texture. Because of its popularity at least in the eastern part of Batangas, there are as many styles of cooking lomi as there are eateries, panciterias or restaurants offering the dish. Variations in recipes and quality are therefore very common.
Mont di is a collective term for Burmese dishes made with thin rice noodles. The vermicelli is used fresh, as it ferments quickly in Myanmar's tropical climate. There are a number of mont di dishes, and the Rakhine mont di of the Arakanese from western Myanmar is the most popular. Mandalay mont di is another well-known dish. A handful of regional rice vermicelli dishes, such as Mawlamyaing mohinga and Kengtung khao sen, are also interchangeably called "mont di."
Kwetiau goreng is an Indonesian style of stir fried flat rice noodle dish. It is made from noodles, locally known as kwetiau, which are stir-fried in cooking oil with garlic, onion or shallots, beef, chicken, fried prawn, crab or sliced bakso (meatballs), chili, Chinese cabbage, cabbages, tomatoes, egg, and other vegetables with an ample amount of kecap manis. In Asia, kwetiau is available in two forms, dried and fresh. Its recipe is quite similar to another Chinese Indonesian favourite, mie goreng, with the exception of replacing yellow wheat noodles for flat rice noodles.
Beef kway teow or beef kwetiau is a Maritime Southeast Asian dish of flat rice noodles stir-fried and topped with slices of beef or sometimes beef offal, served either dry or with soup. The dish is commonly found in Southeast Asian countries, especially Singapore and Indonesia, and can trace its origin to Chinese tradition. It is a popular dish in Singaporean cuisine and among Chinese Indonesians, where it locally known in Indonesian as kwetiau sapi.
Indonesian noodles are a significant aspect of Indonesian cuisine which is itself very diverse. Indonesian cuisine recognizes many types of noodles, with each region of the country often developing its own distinct recipes.
Bún kèn, also known as trumpet rice noodle soup, is a dish of Cambodian origins that is a specialty of Phú Quốc. The name originates from the Mekong Delta Khmer people's term "ken" when referring to dishes cooked with coconut milk.