Little help identifying Chinese noodles "Guobian flakes"

Guobian eh? I eat that almost every day in Fuzhou for breakfast. A bowl costs 1 yuan here. It's a typical local snack of Fuzhou. Every area, every town or hamlet has their own typical local dishes. Guo bian got about 400 years of history.

Just had another bowl of guo bian for breakfast. This time, I took a picture:

That's what guo bian looks like in Fuzhou. Don't know what yours looks like. Recipies vary of course. This just happens to be the way it's made where I'm at.

They got tiny dried shrimp, dried fish flakes, dried scallops, bits of celery and spring onion in it. Some other recipes add mushroom and larger shrimp.

Btw, when we eat guo bian, it usually accompanies other stuff - like rou bao (meat buns), man tou (a kind of bun), cha ye dan (tea boiled egg). That's all considered kind of like fast food here. Fast and convenient.

Hmm... I see from your post and more searching that "guobian" seems to be the name of the soup itself... the "guobian flakes" I have must be the white noodles in the guobian.

Somehow I knew even though it was off-topic, that someone here would have the info. And I even lucked out and found someone in Fuzhou! Pretty cool.

I am using them as a replacement for fresh Thai rice noodles, but can you tell me how the noodles are made for the guobian? Is this a dish you make yourself or just buy out?

- Dominic

That's right, it's the name of the dish itself.

This is not a dish that you would want to make yourself. It's kind of complicated. And the "noodles" really aren't noodles. First, some rice is made into a paste or slurry in water. Then, it's added to a large wok, and it's boiled down. As it boils down, the slurry that stuck to the sides gets dried up. Then, they take a spatula and go around the edges of the wok, lifiting up this dried up rice paste and putting it back into the wok of water. They do this repeated times until there are enough "noodles". That's why it's called "guo bian". The trick though, is to make thin noodles rather than too thick. And the rest of the ingredients are cooked in the same wok along with it.

Maybe I can take a picture later of how it's actually made.

I looked around in some Asian stores yesterday and saw some noodles from China in about half inch squares. It would remind you of flakes. Also plug Guo Pian Noodles into Google and you see a guy asking amost the same question. When I want noodles I go to a pho restaurant. It'll make you give up Italian.

Jim

Dom> Hmm... I see from your post and more searching that "guobian" seems to

Heh, I'm a huge pho fan :) I am lucky to have quite possibly the best hidden gem in Pittsburgh, Tram's Kitchen, which is unrivaled in my mind and where most of the local chefs and Vietnamese go. Italian has its place but certainly some hand made Pad See Ew wins hands down in my book. The "guobian flakes" I use are made by Fuzhou Luhong Food Co and in a half clear half pale green bag. They are irregular shaped and about 1"x1" or some can be 2"x4."

- Dominic

Wow! Thanks for all of the info! That paints a very clear picture actually and makes total sense (who said a picture is worth a thousand words? :) Although I dug your photos, that old Chinese pot was sweet and the skewered grub/bug things seemed quite odd.

By any chance could you describe the broth? I am now very interested in trying to make some real guobian (with the guobian flakes at first as the other seems a touch time intensive which I sadly do not have these days) The Internet never ceases to amaze me, I toss out a crazy off-topic question and find as close to the source as possible in a matter of hours. Crazy.

Tons of thanks!

- Dominic

Lipton Chicken Noodle soup. It kind of tastes like that - sort of. It's about as salty as that anyway. Though, most Fujian fare is quite plain - little salt, little spice. Because there's some dried fish flakes in it, it has a somewhat fishy taste, though it's quite muted. And the flavor of celery is apparent. It's actually quite nice. The salted dried fish is probably what makes it so salty. Just off to eat some guobian and a roubao right now...