HISTORY OF CHINESE NOODLES
When an elderly Chinese woman by name Wang Li was confronted with the question of which type of Chinese Noodles she likes best, an astonishing answer came out from her mouth and deeply from her heart." your question is just like asking me to choose my favorite from members of my family" Such an answer, vividly portrays what Chinese Noodles are to an average Chinese daily life when it comes to food.
It was not until the year 22-220 AD, that is during the Eastern Han Dynasty that this now favorite food started to find itself on Chinese dining tables. In 2002, archeologist in China discovered an earthenware bowl containing world's oldest known noodles, about 4000 years old in Lajia , along the yellow river. Mr Ying ,popularly called the master by his colleagues at the escarvation site, said " This is a very big and a surprising discovery and it is the first of it's kind here.we are looking for more findings as we will keep on working on sites around this area"
VARIETIES AND INTERNALIZATION OF CHINESE NOODLES
Within not a very long time span, then varieties of Chinese Noodles were developed with each region having it's own type and flavor that is clearly distinguished due to the different types of spices and other ingredients used. But what is common is that all noodles are made of wheat or rice flour.
Millions of Chinese restaurants are spread across all over China, contributing in no small measure to the economy especially in the field of employment . At the age eighty, Lao Huang was one of those who opened one of the earliest noodles in Beijing said. " fifty years ago I can count clearly how many chinese noodles restaurant we had in Beijing but now even the government itself may not give you the accurate number of noodles restaurant in this city, but many have spoiled the business forgetting the noodles culture and pay attention to making money only" Chinese Noodles was first introduced to the Western Countries particularly United states os America in the mid-1800's when Chinese immigrants from Canton began settling in California. At that time Chinese Noodles was primarily consumed by the Chinese community. It was only in the 1920's the young Americans started to be part of it because as many at that time claimed it was exotic. It wasn't until after the second wold war that the noodles piqued the interest of mainstream America and many other western countries.
The fact that the high desire for noodles as a favorite food among Chinese has contributed immensely to the economy of the locals and the nation at large can not be gainsaid.
NOODLES AND THE CHINESE ECONOMY
According to China Digest magazine ,the high demand for noodles is one of the major things that that jumped the prices of wheat and rice flour in the market.
Also according to the Chinese National Statistics Office ,in December 2014, the flour output of large scale enterprises was 11.3069 million tons, up 5.08% year on year while the accumulative consumption was 31.1922 MT , up 3.84% and the general increase in 5 provinces where noodles are more consumed shows an average increase of 9.64% compared with the year 2013. This translate in to billions of RMB going in to the hands of wheat and rice farmers and so the flour processors. which have noodle makers as their primary targets.
So quick to cook and so simple to eat and so easy to make in addition to the requirement of not a big place to open an average Chinese Noodles restaurant , all these make it one of the best fast food in town.
Chinese Noodles may be cooked either fresh or dried. They are generally boiled. Unlike many western noodles, Chinese noodles are usually made from salted dough and therefore do not require the addition of salt to the liquid in which they are boiled which generally takes not more than 5 minutes.
Chinese noodles restaurants are usually packed with customers because of what can best be described as ordinary national food among the locals. It became a toss-up between China and Italy, that where among the two places is the birth place of noodles.
