Quanzhou Red-oil Rice Noodles: White Noodles in Red Soup, Hot, Spicy and Delicate

Located in the north of Guangxi， Xing’an， Quanzhou， and Guanyang counties are geographically close to Hunan， so they also share similar diets with Hunan. Regarding these three counties， there are two popular sayings： “Don’t go to Xing Quan Guan unless you can hold your liquor”; the other is “In Xing Quan Guan， no dish is served without chilis.” The first refers to people’s high alcohol tolerance， while the second refers to their love for spicy food. So， in this blood-boiling eating environment， a kind of special rice noodle — Quanzhou red-oil rice noodle — was born in northern Guizhou with a visual impact comparable to that of Liuzhou snail rice noodles， with its own “special appearance.”

Eateries serve red-oil rice noodles everywhere in Quanzhou County. If you live or travel there， what wakes you up in the morning may not be the rising sunlight but the fragrance of red-oil rice noodles outside the window or the voice of the locals yelling to order rice noodles： “Hey boss， two liang of rice noodles， more red oil， more soybeans！” It will wake you up and make you eager to rush to the eatery and have a bowl of rice noodles immediately.

Quanzhou red-oil rice noodles are featured with white noodles， red soup， soft and smooth texture， and spicy flavor. Local folklore has such a saying， “The rice noodles are white and smooth， the shallots are green and fresh， together they are dipped in red oil and fresh soup; delicious and spicy， appetizing and nutritious， you can’t have enough of them.” It is the most comprehensive and fitting summary of the flavor characteristics of Quanzhou red-oil rice noodles. Quanzhou red-oil rice noodles are a traditional local snack made of rice as a raw material， which is made into round linear rice products through the process of dipping and grinding， water steaming or soaking and steaming， pressing， etc.， and then combined with specially made soup， red oil or other ingredients using cooking methods such as mixing or boiling. Because of its distinctive features and delicious taste， the Quanzhou Red-Oil Rice Noodles Making Technique was included in the list of representative items of intangible cultural heritage at the autonomous region level in 2012.

No conclusive historical records have been found yet on the exact year when Quanzhou red-oil rice noodles became popular. According to the local elders， before the founding of New China， red-oil rice noodles were already a common household food in Quanzhou. There is also a widespread local legend about it， which is about filial piety. The people of Quanzhou have always been sincere and simple， and it is their requirement for themselves to be filial to their parents and loyal to their country. According to the legend， there was a dutiful son， Tang Guozhong， who was very filial to his aged mother. One year in winter， his mother fell ill， and she lost weight day after day due to her lack of appetite. Tang was so anxious that he couldn’t sleep or eat and burned incense to pray to Chang’e. Chang’e was moved by Tang Guozhong’s behavior. Thinking that the winter weather in Quanzhou was colder than that in Guilin， she taught Tang Guozhong to make a bowl of rice noodles for his mother using the “three spices” （chili， ginger， and garlic） of Quanzhou， which was appetizing and could drive away the cold. His mother ate it three times and miraculously recovered from her illness. Since then， red-oil rice noodles have been widely spread in Quanzhou and loved by locals as many families have passed down their skills from generation to generation.

A bowl of delicious Quanzhou red-oil rice noodles consists of four components： rice noodles， red oil， soybean bone soup， and meat sauce soup. The appearance and aroma of the rice noodles mainly come from the excellent quality of red oil.

The rice noodle used in Quanzhou red-oil rice noodles is a kind of fresh wet rice noodle which needs to be freshly pressed and cooked. This kind of rice noodle has a strong rice flavor and smooth texture， which is locally known as “chu zha rice noodles.” That is why many local red-oil rice noodle restaurants have signs that say “Quanzhou Chu Zha Rice Noodles” instead of “Quanzhou Red-Oil Rice Noodles.” Unlike the dry rice noodles， the process of making the chu zha rice noodles is rather tedious， and many restaurants start to process the rice noodle dough and prepare other ingredients at 3 or 4 am every day to ensure that customers can enjoy the freshly made chu zha rice noodles.

The first step is to make rice noodles. The rice is rinsed and soaked in water. Depending on the season， the soaking time varies from 1 to 2 days in summer， and 2 to 3 days in winter. The rice is ready when the rice grains have absorbed enough water to appear milky white and are easily crushed when picked up and kneaded. After washing the soaked rice， it is beaten into rice milk. Traditionally， the rice is ground with a stone mill， but nowadays， a beater is used， and the soaked rice and water are added to the machine and stirred together. The rice milk is put into a cloth bag， which is sealed and pressed with a large， heavy stone slab until the rice milk is turned into wet flour containing only about 30% moisture content— a process that takes more than ten hours. The wet flour is proportionally put into a blender with the leftover cooked rice noodles （old flour） from the previous day and blended thoroughly.

The mixture of old and new rice flour facilitates better adhesion of the molecules between the rice flour and makes the rice noodles more resilient. Take out the mixed flour， knead it by hand into a grapefruit-sized dough， put it into boiling water and cook it until the outside is cooked and the inside is raw （the surface 3-4 cm is well-cooked）. The semi-cooked dough is put back into a blender and beaten until it is even. In the old days， when there was no blender， a wooden mortar and pestle were used to repeatedly beat the dough in a mortar until it was even to make it sticky.

Then take it out and knead it into a smooth cylinder， after which it is put into a press machine and pressed to extract the rice noodles. Cook the pressed noodles in boiling water for a minute or two， then take them out and drain them in cold water.

The second step is to make the red oil. Select high-quality， large dried red chili peppers， and boil them slightly in water. Remove the seeds and pour the chili peppers together with the boiling water into the grinder， add the proper amount of salt and grind them into a fine pulp; heat the frying pan， wait for the oil temperature to reach 100 degrees Celsius， then pour the fine pulp into the pan， constantly stirring the pulp. Boil the pulp until it does not stick to the spatula， which means the red oil is ready. When making the red oil， someone must be watching the pot， once the chili pepper sticks to the bottom of the pot， the aroma of red oil will be diminished.

The third step is to make the soybean bone soup. Soak the soybeans in cold water， usually overnight， until they are puffed up. After washing the pork tube bones， put them in a pot to blanch off the blood and eliminate the smell. Then add water to a large pot， put the bones， soybeans， and spice packets in cold water， and simmer the soup over high heat until it turns beige in color. After seasoning， the soup is ready.

The fourth step is to make the meat sauce soup. Chop the pork with half fat and half lean meat into meat sauce， add an appropriate amount of salt and sugar to season the meat sauce in a bowl， pour in a bit of warm soybean bone soup to dilute the meat sauce， and then pour in boiling hot soybean bone soup to scald the meat sauce. The meat sauce cooked quickly at high temperatures is particularly tender and tasty.

When the customer orders， the chef simply takes out the prepared cooked rice noodles and “bubbles” them for the customer， that is， to scald the rice noodles in boiling water for about 20 seconds and pour them into the bowl. Add a large spoonful of meat sauce soup， sprinkle a little bit of chopped green onions， pour in the soybean soup， top it with red oil， and a bowl of hot and tempting Quanzhou red oil rice noodles is ready. Pick up the rice noodles covered with bright and eye-catching red oil with chopsticks and slurp them into your mouth. You will then savor the fresh and salty taste of the soup， the spicy flavor of the red oil， and the fragrance of soybeans. As you chew the rice noodles， you will taste the light fragrance of rice， and the tenderness and smoothness will make you exclaim “wonderful” in your mind. Blow away the red oil to take a sip of soup， accompanied by the soybeans which are so soft that they melt on your tongue， and you will immediately feel thoroughly comfortable. Locals also like to enjoy red-oil rice noodles with deep-fried dough sticks. Dip the crispy dough sticks into the rice noodle soup for a while， after which the crispy and soft texture will be combined with the fragrance of the fried carbs and the salty and spicy rice noodles， making it impossible to resist.

Chili is one of the oldest crops in human history， but it was not introduced to China until the late Ming Dynasty. Over the course of time， chili peppers were spread throughout China， entering Guangxi and reaching Quanzhou， where they became acquainted with Quanzhou’s rice noodles and integrated with them， finally creating the present Quanzhou red-oil rice noodles. A bowl of Quanzhou red-oil rice noodles is not only a delicacy of the local people， but also a testimony to Chinese and foreign exchanges in the process of fusion and rebirth.

“Intangible Cultural Heritage in Guangxi” Series

Editted and Written by “Intangible Cultural Heritage in Guangxi” Series Compiling Group

Guangxi People’s Publishing House

June 2022

560.00 （CNY）

“Intangible Cultural Heritage in Guangxi” Series Compiling Group

The Publicity Department of the Party Committee of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region organized seven publishing units under Guangxi Publishing and Media Group to compile and publish this series of popular reading materials on intangible cultural heritage in Guangxi. The series has been selected as a project supported by the three-year plan of the Guangxi contemporary literature and art creation project （2022--2024）.