Zhushu Sweet Potato Vermicelli from Duozhu

Zhushu Sweet Potato Vermicelli from Duozhu

　　Zhushu Sweet Potato Vermicelli from Duozhu is mainly produced in villages such as Shangcun, Yuanling, Henan, and Hebei in Duozhu Town. It is made from pollution-free purple sweet potatoes (also known as purple yam or taro potato) grown in high-altitude areas, using traditional handmade methods without any chemical additives. It is a renowned local specialty of the mountainous region in Huidong.

　　It was once a main dish served to guests by locals in the mountainous region.

　　"Before and after the reform and opening-up, sweet potato vermicelli was a main dish served to guests in the mountainous areas," a village official explained during a recent interview with reporters who visited Shangcun Village in Duozhu Town. In the old days, sweet potatoes were the staple food for local farmers. Farmers would chop the sweet potatoes, wash them in a vat of water, and after a while, the cloudy water would settle and become clear, leaving a layer of white, rice-flour-like sediment at the bottom. When this sediment was cooked, it became gelatinous, changing color from milky white to a translucent light brown. The cooked sweet potato starch would then be dried in the sun. When recooked later, it became chewy, smooth, and delicious. Later on, people began cutting the dried starch blocks into strips, and thus, sweet potato vermicelli was born. Mountain folks were known for their hospitality. In those days of material scarcity, they would always prepare some sweet potato vermicelli. Whenever guests came, they would cook or stir-fry it into several dishes centered around the vermicelli to serve them. Especially during celebrations such as weddings, sweet potato vermicelli was an indispensable main dish.

　　In recent years, as the reputation of the local sweet potato vermicelli has grown, along with its unique flavor and excellent quality, city dwellers have also fallen in love with this dish. In major hotels and restaurants in Huidong County, sweet potato vermicelli is even listed as a speciality dish on the menu.

　　When customers come to buy it, it is often in short supply.

　　According to reports, nowadays, many locals use sweet potato grinding machines to process the starch during the production of sweet potato vermicelli. After harvesting sweet potatoes from the fields and cleaning them, they are ground into pulp using the machine. The pulp is filtered and poured into a large vat, stirred into a paste with a rolling pin, and then steamed to make sweet potato starch sheets. These sheets are dried in the sun, cut by machine, and packaged to become sweet potato vermicelli.

　　Sweet potato vermicelli is generally produced around October of the lunar calendar each year because the weather is sunny, perfect for drying the vermicelli, and it also coincides with the sales peak during New Year’s Day and the Spring Festival. "Under good weather conditions, it takes at least four days to produce a batch of sweet potato vermicelli," a villager from Shangcun said. Once cooked, the vermicelli becomes crystal clear, very chewy and smooth, with a unique sweet potato aroma, making it highly favored by consumers. Customers often come directly to buy it. It sells for about 15 yuan per kilogram and is frequently in short supply, whereas raw sweet potatoes generally sell for only about 1.6 yuan per kilogram.

　　"Making vermicelli is more profitable than selling raw sweet potatoes," the village official said. Nowadays, each household can earn over 10,000 yuan a year just from selling sweet potato vermicelli, with some earning as much as 20,000 yuan or more. This has allowed the villagers of Shangcun to taste the sweetness of prosperity, with some even building new houses. It is reported that Shangcun Village has over 300 households, nearly all of which grow sweet potatoes and process them into vermicelli. To help villagers sell their product, the village has also established an agricultural products shopping department.