| Noodles are a form of staple food very popular | | | | shaking and twisting many times until he feels the |
| among the Chinese. They can be made either by | | | | paste is firm enough. Then on a work board he |
| hand or by machine and are divided into "cut | | | | starts pulling the paste with his arms stretched. |
| noodles" or "dried noodles" by the way they are | | | | He folds the thick string of paste in two, pulling |
| made. Made in whatever way, they maybe of | | | | again. This is then repeated many times over and |
| different widths varying from ribbons to threads. | | | | the strings of paste become longer, more |
| As a prepared dish, they can be served warm or | | | | numerous, thinner and thinner, turning finally into |
| cold, dressed with chilli oil or not, eaten with fried | | | | very fine noodles. The whole process of making |
| bean sauce, port or chicken sauce, duck chops, | | | | "hand pulled noodles" is done with such magical |
| any soups, etc. | | | | dexterity that to watch an experienced cook |
| There are also a variety of "instant noodles", | | | | doing it is like watching a juggler's show. |
| which are precooked, dried and commercially | | | | Another specialty that takes years to perfect are |
| packed. Before eating, all you have to do is soak | | | | longxu mian (dragon beard noodles). Commercially |
| them in hot, boiled water for a few minutes. This | | | | they are available fried, so they are golden in |
| makes them very handy for a quick meal. | | | | colour, crisp to bite and with a distinctive flavour. |
| As noodles are always in the form of long strings, | | | | "Dragon beards" are also hand pulled but are |
| they are symbolic of longevity and are therefore | | | | made extraordinarily fine. It has been calculated |
| indispensable at Chinese birthday parties. | | | | that a piece of paste prepared with 1.5 kilograms |
| Two types of noodles stand out among the rest | | | | of wheat flour can make 144,000 hair thin |
| and require professional skill. The "hand-pulled | | | | noodles, each 17 centimetres long, which means a |
| noodles" are probably unique to China and can be | | | | total length of 2 kilometres. |
| made only by a trained cook. He prepares the | | | | At the beginning "dragon beards" were simply |
| paste by stretching it in his hands, holding it | | | | called "beards" but since they caught the fancy of |
| stretched and shaking it gently up and down four | | | | an emperor and as the dragon was the symbol |
| or five times. He then drops down the middle of | | | | of all emperors, they have come to be known as |
| the long paste and swings it in such a way that it | | | | "dragon's beards". |
| twists around itself. He repeats the stretching, | | | | |