Yangxian Rice Noodles

Yangxian Rice Noodles

　　 Rice noodles are a very common food in Yangxian. Made primarily from locally grown rice, their preparation is simple, and almost every household knows how to make them. They can serve as a staple food—just two big bowls can fill you up—or as a dish with a uniquely delicious taste, which is why everyone loves them and never tires of eating them. Country folks eat rice noodles at home every day, but when they come to town, they still look for rice noodle stalls because they’re both economical and satisfying.

　　 Although rice noodles are the most ordinary food in Yangxian, those from Yangxian are considered the best. There are two reasons for this. First, Yangxian’s rice noodles have the longest history. Folklore tells of Wen Tong, the cousin of the great Northern Song Dynasty literary figure Su Shi, who served as magistrate of Yangzhou and once ate rice noodles at a local home. He ate with such greed and speed that he earned the nickname “the Gluttonous Magistrate.” Second, Yangxian’s rice noodles stand out in terms of preparation, seasoning, variety, and flavor, making them uniquely delicious and famous throughout the area.

　　 Let’s start with the preparation. To make truly excellent and tasty rice noodles, the selection of rice is the first crucial step. The best type for steaming rice noodles is the tall-stalk rice variety “Gui Chao No. 2,” as this rice has a “hard texture,” resulting in noodles that aren’t sticky and have a chewy, “beef-tendon-like” texture. Next, the rice must be rinsed and soaked repeatedly. The cleaner and more times the rice is washed, the thinner and shinier the resulting noodles will be. Typically, the rice should be soaked for a full 24 hours—the longer it soaks, the better the texture and chewiness. The third step is to strain the ground rice slurry through a fine sieve to remove impurities and broken grains. This ensures the noodles turn out tender.

　　 The selection of ingredients for rice noodles is quite particular. For home use, the main seasonings are refined salt, aged vinegar, soy sauce, garlic juice, ginger juice, and chili oil. But for commercial rice noodles sold on the street, vendors may add up to eleven ingredients, including mustard, MSG, spicy oil, and sesame oil. Among these seasonings, vinegar and chili oil are key to enhancing the flavor. The vinegar should be simmered with spices, and the chili oil requires extra processing—chili peppers should be bright red and thick-fleshed, ground into flakes, and the oil should be infused with spices like tsao-ko, fennel, and Sichuan peppercorns. After all this preparation, the result is a uniquely fragrant taste. Though diners may sweat from the spiciness, the lingering aroma leaves them reluctant to put down their bowls. In today’s competitive market, consumers not only expect well-steamed noodles but also rich and varied seasonings. The competition in quality mainly comes down to these two aspects. One individual in particular, a Mr. Xie near the Old West Gate, has created rice noodles that are truly unique and renowned throughout the county. His stall is packed with customers daily, and he can hardly keep up with the demand. Thanks to his successful rice noodle business, he is now a county political advisor, a regional model worker, and a provincial people’s representative—truly a “rice noodle champion.”

　　 Rice noodles are usually eaten cold, mixed with other ingredients. First, sliced noodles are placed in a bowl, then topped with bean sprouts, spinach, and for those who are particularly particular, some shredded carrot, creating a colorful mix of red, white, yellow, and green. Nowadays, when hosting guests, locals in Yangxian enjoy pairing rice noodles with vegetarian tofu, which is light, refreshing, nourishing to the stomach, and stimulates the appetite—all while being in line with physiological and nutritional principles. Besides being served cold, in recent years, other preparations have been developed, including stir-fried rice noodles, stewed rice noodles, fried rice noodles, pickled vegetable rice noodles, as well as soup rice noodles and hot rice noodles. Hot rice noodles make up for the downside of cold noodles being too biting in the cold winter. They involve placing freshly steamed noodles whole into a bowl, ladling on a prepared scallion and sour soup, and adding toppings like dried shrimp, seaweed, and pepper. It looks like a white lotus blooming in a light brown broth. Diners pick up the noodles one by one with chopsticks, enjoying the steaming heat and fragrant aroma—it’s a unique flavor all its own. In short, there are so many ways to eat Yangxian rice noodles that you could easily host an entire rice noodle banquet. After the Third Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee, with policies opening up and markets becoming more active, enterprising individuals once proposed setting up a “Rice Noodle Street” in Yangxian County, featuring all kinds of rice noodles to treat visitors to a true taste sensation.

　　 Rice noodles, this ancient traditional local food, have not only made their way onto the tables of high-end banquets, showcasing their charm, but have also stepped out of homes to play an attractive economic role in the tide of the market economy. Meanwhile, hundreds of people from Yangxian have gone to Baoji, Xi’an, Lanzhou, Xinjiang, Beijing, and other places specifically to run rice noodle businesses, and their ventures are doing quite well.

　　Source: Office of the People’s Government of Yangxian County