[net.cooks] Chineese noodle nomenclature

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