Xiantao Eel Rice Noodles

Xiantao Eel Rice Noodles

　　Eel rice noodles are a famous local snack in Xiantao, an essential breakfast item, much like hot dry noodles in Wuhan. The noodles are as fine as silk threads, and the broth is thick, smooth, and deliciously savory. The soup is made using wild eel bones, pork leg bones, and pork skin, resulting in a rich and long-lasting flavor. Fresh rice is soaked for 8 hours, then ground into rice paste, giving the broth its thick consistency. The master chef at Huayuan Hotel has been making eel rice noodles for 35 years. The hotel has been open for 20 years, and this signature breakfast has been its trademark, selling hundreds of bowls every day.

　　Historical Anecdote:

　　Eel rice noodles were originally called “slurry rice noodles” and are a well-known traditional snack from Mianyang (now Xiantao City). Legend has it that during the late Qing Dynasty, a filial son from a poor family in Mianyang had no money to buy medicine for his bedridden mother. Hearing that eels could nourish the body and replenish blood, he went down to the river embankment and caught over ten eels. He bought some bones and ginger to make a soup for her. After drinking it, his mother said, “Son, what kind of soup is this? It’s so delicious!” Overjoyed, the son replied that it was soup he made himself using eels and bones he had caught. From then on, he went fishing in the river every day to make soup for his mother. Half a year later, she miraculously recovered. After regaining her health, the mother ground the rice from her own field into a paste to make noodles, and together with her son, they started selling the eel-flavored slurry noodles on the street. Because of its unique and rich taste, word quickly spread, and gradually, it became a widely loved traditional breakfast in Mianyang.