Yi mein () is a variety of flat

Cantonese Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding ar ...

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noodles made from

wheat flour Wheat flour is a powder made from the grinding of wheat used for human consumption. Wheat varieties are called "soft" or "weak" if gluten content is low, and are called "hard" or "strong" if they have high gluten content. Hard flour, or ''bread ...

. They are known for their golden brown color and chewy characteristics. The slightly chewy and slightly spongy texture of the noodles is due to the

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used in making the dough, which is then fried and dried into flat patty-like dried bricks.

Preparation

The Yi mein noodles available at grocery stores were pre-cooked by machines the same way as the modern instant noodles are made. The noodles may be cooked a number of ways. They are boiled first, then can be

stir fried Stir frying () is a cooking technique in which ingredients are fried in a small amount of very hot oil while being stirred or tossed in a wok. The technique originated in China and in recent centuries has spread into other parts of Asia and ...

, or used in soups or salads. Good noodles maintain their elasticity, allowing the noodles to stretch and remain chewy.

Dishes

''Yi mein'' noodles can be consumed directly or used in various dishes: * Plain ''yi mein'' * Plain ''yi mein'' with Chinese chives (韮黃) * Dried fried ''yi mein'' (乾燒伊麵), often comes with Chinese chives and shiitake mushroom * Crab meat ''yi mein'' (蟹肉伊麵) * Lobster ''yi mein'' (龍蝦伊麵), it is sometimes served with cheese in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

. * ''Yi mein'' with black mushrooms and eggplant * ''Yi mein'' in soup * '' I fu mie'', dried fried ''yi mein'' noodle served in sauce with vegetables chicken or prawn.

Traditions

When yi mein is consumed on

birthday A birthday is the anniversary of the birth of a person, or figuratively of an institution. Birthdays of people are celebrated in numerous cultures, often with birthday gifts, birthday cards, a birthday party, or a rite of passage. Many re ...

s, it is generally referred to as longevity noodles or sau mein (壽麵/寿面). The Chinese character for "long" (長壽麵/长寿面) is also added as a prefix to represent "long life". Usually it is consumed with

longevity buns The word " longevity" is sometimes used as a synonym for "life expectancy" in demography. However, the term ''longevity'' is sometimes meant to refer only to especially long-lived members of a population, whereas ''life expectancy'' is always d ...

on such occasions.

Gallery

File:Yi mein dish by peach yeung.jpg, Fisherman style fried yi mein File:Cheese cream sauce baked with lobster.jpg, Western and Chinese style yi mein with lobster File:A bags of Yi Fu noodles from Siu Kee store.jpg, A bag of yi mein at store in Yuen Long File:Shrimp powder with yi mein in chinese noodles shop.jpg, E-Fu noodle with shrimp seeds at Chinese noodle restaurant in Yuen Long

References

External links