Hui Mian

[Madot]

Does anyone have an authentic recipe for hui mian? I now it requires pulled noodles, but what I want is the recipe for the soup itself. I had it in Zhengzhou (Henan Province) where, I believe, it is a local specialty. It's made from lamb (or mutton) broth but I don't know what else goes into it. The final condiments (which you add at the table) include chili paste and vinegar. But I don't know what goes into the broth itself and since I can't read Chinese, my web searches have not been very useful. Can anyone help? Mado

[xiaocai]

I suppose hui mian is 灰面? So the 灰 would be 蓬灰 here and I think you can find what you want in this thread.

[skylee]

Perhaps it is 燴麵?

[Guoke]

郑州特色小吃 羊肉烩面

[Madot]

Xiaocai, yes. I saw that thread, but it's only about the noodles not the soup.

Thanks to Skylee and Guoke, but I haven't kept my Chinese up past Beginners' level, so I'm afraid I can't read the characters. Is anyone willing to translate? Or does anyone know of a link in English? :-/

Mado

Xiaocai, yes. I saw that thread, but it's only about the noodles not the soup.

Thanks to Skylee and Guoke, but I haven't kept my Chinese up past Beginners' level, so I'm afraid I can't read the characters. Is anyone willing to translate? Or does anyone know of a link in English? :-/

Mado

[JenniferW]

This is the list of ingredients from the http://henancai.abang.com/od/henanxiaochi/a/yangrouhuimian.htm link posted to a Chinese language webpage that you said you couldn't read. For speed, I just cut and pasted into MDBG's translator.

羊肉、羊骨头（腿骨、脊骨）、面粉、海带、千张、黄花菜、粉条、香菜

Lamb, sheep bones (leg, spine), flour, kelp, one thousand, day lily, vermicelli, coriander

I think the reference to FLOUR, is for the noodles themselves - for you to use for making them.

I don't know what ONE THOUSAND refers to - someone else will, though, I'm sure.

DAY LILY dried bulbs are available in most Chinese supermarkets, I think.

The VERMICELLI referred to, where I was living, is to the type of noodles made from sweet potato - you can get these as instant noodles as well as packs of them in supermarkets.

I lived for a couple of years in a part of Easter Gansu which had a sizeable Hui population, and Hui Mian was a staple of many restaurants, so I've seen many, many bowls of it. However, the ingredients list here differs in one fundamental aspect - no chilli / chilli oil! I very rarely ate Hui Mian as I couldn't take the degree of chilli! I used to think of it as chilli soup with the thick lumps of noodle floating around with the odd bit of mutton bone!

[JenniferW]

Sorry - I should have read on further in that webpage link .... the chilli is there in the condiments!

调料：盐、葱、姜、料酒、味精、辣椒油、香油

condiments / seasoning: salt, onion, ginger, cooking wine, MSG, chili oil, sesame oil

[jbradfor]

千张 -- also known as 豆腐皮 (according to here).

Vermicelli actually refers to a specific shape of pasta, not the type, similar to spaghetti, etc.

[skylee]

Thanks for highlighting the name 千張 (thousand sheets). I had never heard of it. We use the other name 百葉 (hundred leafs).

And when the bean curd sheets are thin, deep-fried and crispy, sometimes they are called 響鈴 (ringing bell - think the sound when you chew them). A lovely name in my opinion.

[Madot]

Wow! Thanks so much. I don't remember noticing the bean curd sheets, but I imagine they could be cut into shreds, to match the vermicelli and noodles. The rest of the ingredients are easily obtainable. Should I just ask for 'bean curd sheets' or are there different kinds? These are like dofu skins, right? This is SO great! You can always trust SOMEONE (or SEVERAL) on these Forums to have an answer for almost anything.

:-)

Mado

[JenniferW]

I've never heard these other names for 豆腐皮 / dòufu pí even though it's something I like - I like the cold dish where they roll it up around a vegetable filling, for example.

But in many bowls of hui mian, I've also seen none included, so maybe that's a bit of a local variation?