Rice vermicelli

Rice vermicelli

Strands of rice vermicelli
Origin
Alternative name(s)	Rice noodles, rice sticks
Place of origin	China
Details
Type	Rice noodles
Main ingredient(s)	Rice
Variations	Guilin mǐfěn

Rice vermicelli
Chinese name
Chinese	米粉
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin mífěn Wu Shanghainese Romanization mi3 fen1 Hakka Romanization mi fun Yue: Cantonese Jyutping mai3 fen2 Southern Min Hokkien POJ bí-hún Eastern Min Fuzhou BUC mī-hūng Pu-Xian Min Hinghwa BUC bî-heông
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese	bún
Thai name
Thai	เส้นหมี่ (sen mee)
Japanese name
Kana	ビーフン
Malay name
Malay	bihun
Filipino name
Tagalog	bihon or bijon
Tamil name
Tamil	சேவை (sevai)

Rice vermicelli are a thin form of rice noodles. They are sometimes referred to as rice noodles, rice sticks, or bee hoon, but they should not be confused with cellophane noodles, which is an Asian type of vermicelli made from mung bean starch rather than rice.

Presentation and varieties

Rice vermicelli are a part of several Asian cuisines, where they are often eaten as part of a soup dish, stir-fry, or salad. One particularly well-known, slightly thicker variety, called Guilin mǐfěn (桂林米粉), comes from the southern Chinese city of Guilin, where it is a breakfast staple.

Notable dishes

China

Guilin rice noodles

• Cantonese noodles: A large number of Cantonese dishes use this ingredient (called 米粉 maifun or rice in Cantonese). Usually the noodles are simmered in broth with other ingredients such as fish balls, beef balls, and/or fish slices.
• In Fujian and Teochew cuisine, rice vermicelli is a commonly used noodle and is served either in soup, stir-fried and dressed with a sauce, or even 'dry' (without soup) with added ingredients and condiments.

Hong Kong

• Singapore-style noodles (星州炒米, Xīng zhōu cháo mǐ) is a dish of fried rice vermicelli common in Hong Kong Cantonese-style eateries, inspired by the spicy cuisines of Southeast Asia. This dish is made from rice vermicelli, char siu, egg, shrimp and curry.

India and Pakistan

• Sevai is a famous south Indian dish famous in Tamil Nadu, prepared in houses during festive occasions. It is had in different flavours like lemon sevai, tamarind sevai and coconut milk sevai.
• Sawaeyaa is a famous dish made from vermicelli cooked in milk sugar and dry nuts. It is eaten on Diwali, Eid, and other happy occasions in parts of India and Bangladesh.
• Paayasam is a famous South Indian sweet dish made from vermicelli, sago, sugar, spices and nuts and milk.
• Santhakai is a staple South Indian breakfast dish.

Indonesia

• Bihun goreng, a Chinese Indonesian cuisine, stir fried rice vermicelli with sweet soy sauce
• Bihun rebus or bihun kuah, also Chinese Indonesian cuisine rice vermicelli soup
• Lumpia and risoles, several types of spring rolls gorengan (fritters) use rice vermicelli and vegetables filling
• Sop oyong, Chinese okra vegetable soup with rice vermicelli
• Soto, various types of soto (traditional Indonesian soup) often add rice vermicelli in it, such as Soto ayam
• Tekwan, a surimi type fish ball soup related to pempek from South Sumatra, also add rice vermicelli, mushroom, jicama and sedap malam flower

Malaysia

In Malaysia, the rice vermicelli can be called and found as Mihun, Mi hoon, Mee Hoon, Bihun, or Bee Hoon.

• Bihun Sup is a Malay style dish, mixed with spiced beef broth or chicken broth. Sometimes it comes with sambal kicap (pounded bird's eye chilli mixed with dark soy sauce) as a condiment.
• Bihun Kari mixed with curry, added with mung bean sprout, fried tofu and red chillies sambal.
• Bihun soto is in a yellow spicy chicken broth, served with chicken and potato cutlet.
• Hokkien mee throughout Malaysia varies considerably due to regional differences.
• Bihun Tom Yam is mixed with tom yam.
• Laksa Sarawak is mixed with a base of sambal belacan, sour tamarind, garlic, galangal, lemon grass and coconut milk, topped with omelette strips, chicken strips, prawns, fresh coriander and optionally lime. Ingredients such as bean sprouts, (sliced) fried tofu or other seafood are not traditional but are sometimes added.
• Mi Siam is a stir-fried style dish.

Singapore

• Kerabu bee hoon is a Nyonya-style rice vermicelli dish, mixed with herbs and other seasonings.
• Hokkien mee, commonly in Singapore, consists of rice vermicelli mixed with yellow noodles and fried with shrimp, sliced cuttlefish and pork bits. Hokkien mee throughout Malaysia varies considerably due to regional differences.
• Satay bee hoon is rice vermicelli served with spicy peanut satay sauce, common in Singapore.

Myanmar

• Mohinga, in Myanmar, is rice vermicelli served with curry gravy and fish.
• Mont Di is rice vermicelli served with clear fish soup or as salad with fish flakes.

Philippines

• Pancit bihon

Taiwan

• Taiwanese fried rice vermicelli is the dry, stir-fried local style (particularly known in the Hsinchu region). Its main ingredients include sliced pork, dried shrimp, and carrots.
• A Hsinchu specialty is to serve rice vermicelli 'dry' 乾 (gan, not in a soup) with mushroom and ground pork.

Vietnam

Bún Thịt Nướng Chả Giò

• Bánh hỏi
• Bún riêu is rice vermicelli in soup with crab meat.
• Bún bò Huế is rice vermicelli in soup with beef from Huế.
• Bún thịt nướng is a Vietnamese dish consisting of grilled pork (often shredded) and vermicelli noodles over a bed of greens (salad and sliced cucumber), herbs and bean sprouts. Also, it often includes a few chopped egg rolls, spring onions, and shrimp. It is commonly served with roasted peanuts on top and a small bowl of nước chấm.
• Summer roll is rice vermicelli with shrimp and herbs in a rice paper roll.

See also

• Chinese noodles
• Khao poon
• Laksa
• List of noodles
• List of noodle dishes
• Pancit
• Sevai
• Shahe fen
• Khanom chin

External links

• Rice noodles
• World's longest rice noodles
• Recipes for noodles
• Mee hoon goreng (Fried vermicelli) recipe
• Vietnamese rice noodles rice vermicelli