molnar@utecfc.UUCP (Tom Molnar) (01/10/86)
Posted for a friend: Subject: Re: Chinese noodle nomenclature Organization: FLIS, University of Toronto In article <31@cascade.ARPA> asente@cascade.ARPA writes: >Could anyone out there enlighten me as to the the differences among >different kinds of Chinese noodles? I know "mein" indicates wheat and >"fun" indicates rice, but beyond that I'm lost. Thanks in advance, > -paul asente First of all, I'm not sure about the word "mein". The Cantonese pronunciation is "meen" and the Mandarin is "meean". It's possible that it is a mis-romanization of either one. "Chow" is "stir-fry" in both dialects, so no help there. OK, on to different kinds of mein. Basically there are two kinds of mein, both made with wheat flour: regular mein and egg mein. The former usually comes in dried form, but the latter, with egg added, is available in both dried and fresh forms. Both forms have to be cooked in boiling water before they can be used. [I'll include the Cantonese pronuciation in square brackets for each type below.] Regular mein (DRIED) Comes in bunches (nests) or in long strands (like spaghetti). Usually flat like linguine, but can be of any shape. Served stir-fried or in broth. (Sometimes, in a pinch, I'll overcook spaghettini and pretend it is Chinese mein...) Egg mein nests [dahn meen] (DRIED) With egg added. Several shapes and sizes: thin or thicker, flat or round. Served stir-fied or in broth. Shrimp Roe mein [hah tze meen] (DRIED) Egg mein flavored with shrimp roe and comes in nests. It's not as exotic as it sounds, because the flavor is rather subtle. Nowadays I suspect it's all done with artificial flavor, salt and MSG(?), although you do see the tiny black dots on the mein that are supposed to be the shrimp roe. Usually served in broth. Shanghai thick mein [SHanghai tchow meen] (FRESH) I not sure if you can get it in a store, but it's a standard dish in restaurants serving Northen Chinese cuisine. It's served stir-fried with meat (pork) and veggies (Chinese cabbage). E mein [ee meen] (DEEP FRIED) This comes in a round cake. It must be softened in boiling water and when braised with mushrooms and scallions it becomes a dish that frequently appears in birthday dinners/banquets. (hence it is sometimes called longevity mein for "good omen") Sometime served in broth. Now, on to "fun". "Fun" itself does not mean rice; it means powder or flour. It is usually made of rice flour and hence the color is snow white . "River" fun [ho fun] (FRESH) Made of rice flour, this is the most common of the "funs". Comes in flat ribbons, from wide to narrow. Served stir-fried or in broth. "Intestine" fun [cheng fun] (FRESH) Served as a kind of dim sum. First the fun is made by pouring the very liquid dough onto a special frame and steaming it. Next the whole sheet is peeled from the frame, and rolled up like a jelly roll with meat fillings in the center. (beef, shrimp, chicken, dried shrimp with scallions or BBQ pork etc). It is steamed again and served ASAP. The dough itself is similar to that of the ho fun. Vermicelli or "Rice" fun [mye fun] (DRIED) Small and round like spaghettini. Must be cooked in boiling water. Served stir-fried or in broth. Silver Needle fun [ngun tzum fun] (FRESH) [The 'ng' in the Cantonese dialect is pronouced as in 'singing'. It may take a bit of practice but don't tell me you can't say it!] Each strand of fun is shaped like a shuttle, i.e. pointed at both ends, and it's as thick as a chopstick and as long as your little finger. Stir fried with pork, bean sprouts, mushrooms etc., it's often served as a kind of dim sum. "Poured" fun [lie fun] (FRESH) I can't quite translate "lie". This kind of fun is made by pouring the dough through a sieve with very large holes into a pot of boiling water. "Lie" is the word that describes this action. (I believe there is an Italian pasta made in a similar way but I can't recall the name). These are the most common of the Chinese noodles. I don't think the others are likely to be found in restaurants or grocery stores in North America. That's it folks, and I'm very sorry to say that our machine will no longer be on the UNIX net anymore starting this Friday. No more news. No more mail. I enjoyed all the discussions and recipes in this group, but now it's so long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, adieu! :.-( *sniff* -- Henry Chai, just a humble student at the Faculty of Library and Information Science, U of Toronto {watmath,ihnp4,allegra}!utzoo!utcsri!utecfc!utflis!chai