🍽️ Bamboo-Pole Rice Noodle

Rice noodles air-dried on bamboo poles.

The Bamboo-Pole Rice Noodle is a traditional rice noodle of Zhaoqing, Guangdong, named for being air-dried draped over bamboo poles. Local rice is ground to batter and steamed into thin sheets, cut into strips while wet and hung on bamboo poles to dry just enough, giving a smoother, springier bite than ordinary fresh rice noodles. It is served in soup with fresh meat and pork-bone broth, or tossed with soy, oil and minced pork. The wide, translucent strips are slippery yet firm with a clean rice aroma. On the West River in western Guangdong, where rice is abundant, the bamboo-pole method is a farmer's craft. Common at Zhaoqing morning markets and snack shops, a bowl of soup noodles or a tossed plate is the locals' plain daily breakfast and a distinctive taste of western Guangdong noodle craft.