Rice noodles, or simply rice noodle, are noodles made with rice flour and water as the principal ingredients. Sometimes ingredients such as tapioca or corn starch are added in order to improve the transparency or increase the gelatinous and chewy texture of the noodles. Rice noodles are most common in the cuisines of China, India and Southeast Asia. They are available fresh, frozen, or dried, in various shapes, thicknesses and textures. Fresh noodles are also highly perishable; their shelf life may be just several days.
History
The origin of rice noodles dates back to China during the Qin dynasty when people from northern China invaded the south. Due to climatic conditions, the northern Chinese have traditionally preferred wheat and millet which grew in cold weather while the southern Chinese preferred rice which grew in hot weather. Noodles are traditionally made out of wheat and eaten throughout northern China so to adapt, northern cooks tried to prepare "noodles" using rice, thus inventing rice noodles. Over time rice noodles and their processing methods have been introduced around the world, becoming especially popular in Southeast Asia.[1] In India, idi-appam, strings of cooked rice, was known in ancient Tamil country around 1st century AD, as per references in the Sangam literature, according to food historian K. T. Achaya.[2]
The shelf life may be extended by drying and removing its moisture content. Studies of drying rice noodles were conducted by the International Food Research Journal.[3]
Bánh canh – thick Vietnamese noodles. The Vietnamese word bánh refers to items such as noodles or cakes that are made from flour, and canh means "soup."
Lai fun – a short and thick variety of Chinese noodles, also referred to as bánh canh by Vietnamese
Nan gyi thoke – thick round rice noodles mixed with specially prepared chicken curry and chili oil.
Nan lat – medium thick round rice noodles used in Burma[4][5]
Silver needle noodles – a variety of Chinese noodles. It is short, about 5 cm long and 5 mm in diameter. Similar to Lai Fun but has a tapering end resembling a rat's tail. More commonly known as silver needle noodle in Hong Kong and Taiwan, and rat noodle or "mouse tail noodles" in Malaysia and Singapore and Locupan in Indonesia. They are also known as pin noodles.[6] In Thailand they are known as Giam Ee noodles.[7]
Flat thick varieties
Bánh phở – thick fresh rice noodle used in popular Vietnamese phở noodle soups.
Shahe fen/chao fen/chow fun – wide chinese noodles made from rice.
Migan – type of rice noodle from the Dai people, a Tai cultural group from Yunnan Province, China. It is made from ordinary non-glutinous rice. It is primarily defined by its relatively broad and flat shape
Sen lek – narrow flat rice noodle in Thailand[8] Used in such dishes as pad thai, Sukhothai rice noodles and in noodle soups. Its full name would be kuaitiao sen lek
Nan byar – flat rice noodles used in Burma[9] byar/pyar means flat.[10]
Khanom chin – fresh, thin rice noodles in Thai cuisine which are made from rice sometimes fermented for three days, boiled, and then made into noodles by extruding the resulting dough through a sieve into boiling water. Burmese mont bat (မုန့်ဖတ်) or mont di (မုန့်တီ), are similar to this.
Rice vermicelli – thin form of noodle sometimes referred to as "rice noodles" or "rice sticks"
Others
Mixian – a type of rice noodle from the Yunnan Province, China, made from ordinary non-glutinous rice. In many areas there are at least two distinct thicknesses produced, a thinner form (roughly 1.5 mm or 0.059 inches in diameter) and a thicker form (roughly 3.5–4 mm or 0.14–0.16 inches in diameter).
Closeup of pad thai, a Thai dish made from rice noodlesBoiled rice noodlesRice noodles in coconut milk on a plaintain leaf, with jackfruit masala.Curry rice noodles served at a hotel in Kajang, Malaysia. The curry noodles contain fish balls, red chillies, mung bean sprouts, tofu, star anise, and cloves.
Shan khauk swè (similar to Yunnan mi xian)[12] – a "soup version" of meeshay without gel, and fish sauce instead of soy sauce, with flat or round noodles, where the soup is part of the dish itself, rather than as consommé. Also known as Khaut sew or Shan style noodles.[13][14][15][16]
Kuai chap – it is a soup of pork broth with rolled up rice noodle sheets (resulting in rolls about the size of Italian penne), pork intestines, "blood tofu", and boiled egg.
Bun Goi Da (Soc Trang Goi Da noodle soup) — “bun” means noodles, “goi” means spring roll, “da” means eating in Vietnamese slang. Its ingredients consist of pork, rice noodles, shrimp, and vegetables. Tamarind sauce adds a sour taste.
Bún quậy — Stirred(quậy) Shrimp Noodles(Bún). Fish paste and shrimp paste are finely ground, mixed well and stirred. Then, boiling water and noodles water are added immediately and served fresh.[35] Alternatively, the diner has to stir the shrimp, fish, meat, with the broth before eating this dish.[36]
Hủ tiếu – A version of kuay teow that became popular in the 1960s in Southern Vietnam, especially in Saigon. There are different types of noodles for Hu Tieu, such as soft rice noodles, egg noodles, or chewy tapioca noodles.
