🍽️ Sanxiang Laifen

Thick rice noodles in clear broth.

Sanxiang Laifen is a traditional rice noodle from Sanxiang town in Zhongshan, Guangdong, known for its thick, springy strands in clear broth. Rice is ground to batter and extruded through holes into boiling water into thick, round strands—heartier and chewier than ordinary rice noodles. It is usually boiled in superior broth made from pork bones or dace fish, then topped with char siu, roast duck, fish cake or beef brisket. The noodles are smooth and bouncy, the broth clean and sweet, toppings flexible. On the west bank of the Pearl River estuary, near Zhuhai and Jiangmen, Sanxiang blends Cantonese and overseas-Chinese foodways, and laifen is a breakfast and quick-meal staple. One hot bowl fills locals up, and visitors to Sanxiang come for the broth-rich, slippery noodles that define this part of the Pearl River delta.