Old County Township Sweet Potato Vermicelli

Old County Township Sweet Potato Vermicelli

　　Old County Township sweet potato vermicelli is a traditional product of Old County Township. It features a white color, tender yet tough texture, fine and even strands, long cooking time without clouding the soup, and unchanged color and flavor. Due to its crystal-clear transparency, it is praised by locals as “glass vermicelli.”

　　The vermicelli is made from high-quality sweet potato starch. Sweet potatoes, also known as “yams,” are a widely cultivated crop in the mountainous areas of our county. The sweet potatoes grown in the mountainous regions of our county have a high starch yield, are white and fine in texture, and have a smooth taste, making them the main ingredient for making Old County Township sweet potato vermicelli. After the sweet potatoes are harvested and dug up in autumn, the fresh tubers are mechanically crushed, filtered, and the residue is removed to obtain the starch, which locals call “starch powder” or “flour powder.” The vermicelli is made from this high-quality starch. Old County Township sweet potato vermicelli is carefully selected in materials and finely processed. No additives are used during the production process, making it a natural “green food.”

　　The vermicelli can be served cold, stewed, or paired with a variety of vegetables and meats. It is a popular food suitable for all ages and is considered a “home-style dish” in rural areas. Pork stewed with sweet potato vermicelli is a specialty dish of Old County and has now made its way to urban dining tables, entering the realm of refined cuisine.

　　Old County Township sweet potato vermicelli has a long history, with production dating back as early as the Xuantong period of the Qing Dynasty. Since the reform and opening-up, as a leading industry, it has been vigorously developed. The township currently has over 1,000 vermicelli workshops, producing 100 million jin (approximately 50,000 tons) of vermicelli annually, which is sold well in the three northeastern provinces and the Beijing-Tianjin area. The refined vermicelli produced by the three premium starch factories in Old County Township—Sanli, Tailong, and Zhengliang—has occupied a large share of supermarkets across southern China and is exported to Japan, South Korea, as well as Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan regions of China. In 1995, officials from the United Nations Tuber Crops Research Centre visited Old County Township and praised it as the “No. 1 Sweet Potato Vermicelli Township in China.”