Shifang Rice Noodles

Shifang Rice Noodles

　　Shifang rice noodles are a specialty of Shifang City, Deyang, in Sichuan Province. The preparation of Shifang rice noodles is meticulous—the broth is rich and flavorful, packed with meat toppings, and the noodles are soft and delicious, making them suitable for all ages. Many locals in both urban and rural areas of Shifang enjoy rice noodles as a breakfast staple. Visitors from out of town also love trying these uniquely flavored Shifang rice noodles.

　　Shifang rice noodles have a long history. Regarding their origin, there's a popular local legend: During the Tongzhi era of the Qing Dynasty, there was a rice merchant surnamed Zou who lived south of Shifang city. One day, he purchased over ten dan (a traditional unit of weight) of rice from the countryside and was pushing it home in a wooden cart. It was the transition period between summer and autumn, and suddenly dark clouds gathered, followed by a torrential downpour that completely drenched the rice on the cart. The rice merchant, resigned to his misfortune, sighed and transported the wet rice back home. Unexpectedly, it rained continuously for two more days, and the rice began to ferment. If he didn’t find a way to deal with it soon, it would likely mold and rot. Distraught, Zou couldn’t eat or drink, consumed with worry. Then, by coincidence, his wife returned from the noodle shop on South Street with some rice vermicelli and made a bowl of sour and spicy noodles for lunch. Seeing the noodles, an idea suddenly struck the merchant: if starch can be turned into noodles, why not rice flour? Determined, he and his wife worked through the night to grind the fermented rice into fine powder. They borrowed pressing and dripping tools from the Zhang family’s noodle shop on South Street and shaped the fine rice powder into noodles. They tried boiling the rice noodles like pasta and found the taste quite good. They shared some of the fresh noodles with neighbors, and dried the rest in the sun. The neighbors loved the unique flavor, and soon people started coming to their home to buy the noodles. From then on, the rice merchant gave up the rice trade altogether and focused solely on making and selling rice noodles—his business flourished more and more.

　　This is just a local legend, and its authenticity is impossible to verify. According to historical records: In the early years of the Guangxu reign during the Qing Dynasty, a street vendor named Zhou Yongxing set up a stall selling “hezhi powder” (a type of starchy food) north of Shifang city on Gulou Street, and his business did quite well. After saving some money, in the 14th year of Guangxu’s reign, he bought a storefront, switched to selling rice noodles, and produced and sold them himself. His business thrived, and he even hired assistants. After running the shop for over a decade, he transferred it to Li Guoxiang. Li hired Lin Changxing as an assistant. Six years later, Li sold the shop to Lin Changxing, who named it “Changxing Rice Noodle Shop,” which operated until the liberation.

　　Shifang rice noodles are made by grinding rice into a slurry, filtering out the water, and allowing it to naturally ferment (for about three days in summer and around seven days in winter). The mixture is then kneaded into balls, boiled in hot water until 70–80% cooked, re-kneaded into a dough, pressed through a noodle extruder, and finally dripped into boiling water to cook before being drained. When serving, the noodles are briefly blanched in boiling water, then topped with seasonings.

　　The preparation of Shifang rice noodles is very particular. The broth is often a rich bone stock, and after blanching the noodles in a pot of boiling water with a spice bag, they are topped with ingredients such as light soy sauce, chili oil, minced ginger, scallions, cilantro, sesame seeds, chicken essence, and MSG. Then, various toppings like pork, beef, beef offal, tripe, chicken, or chicken giblets are added to complete the steaming bowl of noodles. Well-known shops in the urban area such as Old Shifang Rice Noodles, Xiaoyu Rice Noodles, Yangji Tripe Rice Noodles, Xichengguai Beef Offal Rice Noodles, Zhengxiong Rice Noodles, Guangtou Rice Noodles, and Luoshui Beef Rice Noodles are all quite famous and enjoy brisk business.