Introduction of Chinese Noodles

Chinese Noodles?

Noodles are an essential ingredient in Chinese cuisine. There is various ways to cook noodles in China according to the part of China, and there are many kinds of ingredients, shapes, widths or manners.

History

The earliest written record of noodles in China is from a book dated to the Eastern Han Dynasty period (25–220). Noodles, often made from wheat dough, became a prominent staple of food during the Han Dynasty (206 BCE - 220 CE). During the Song Dynasty (960–1279) noodle shops were very popular in the cities, and remained open all night. During the earlier dynastic periods Chinese wheat noodles were known as "soup cake" (湯餅), as explained by the Song Dynasty scholar Huang Chaoying (黃朝英) mentions in his work "A delightful mixed discussion on various scholarly topics" (靖康緗素雜記) that in ancient times dough foods are referred collectively as "bing" and differentiated through their cooking methods.