生榨粉 is a kind of rice vermicelli found in Nanning city in Guangxi province in south China. It is a most rudimentary method of making rice noodles by hand pressing rice batter through a piping bag (perforated sieve) into boiling water.
Traditional preparation is tedious and time consuming. Rice grain is soaked, allowed to ferment 3 - 8 days, dissolved and milled into a sticky wet paste, drained and pressed into dry rice blocks.
To make rice vermicelli, the rice blocks are rehydrated. The resulting wet paste is hand pressed or piped through a piping bag (perforated cloth sieve) with many holes forcing the rice paste to pass through in thick strands. The strands of rice are cooked in boiling water, becoming rice vermicelli.
Today, most stalls either use modern calliper type metal hand press or press their rice blocks with machines.
The rice vermicelli is eaten in a bowl of pork soup with toppings of sautéed minced pork, minced raw garlic, fried peanut, etc., and sides of braised pork intestines, braised pork belly, braised egg, etc. Topping of stir fried bean sprout, bamboo shoot and long bean are common. Some stalls add preserved / pickled lemon in the stewed minced meat.
The thick strands of rice noodles are soft-tender outside with a slightly firmer core, so yielding a spongy springy bite. The rice noodles have pronounced sweet rice flavour and slight tangy fermentation taste. It tastes similar to rice cake. It also has the fragrance of rice wine because of the fermentation.
It is a simple comfort dish, an artefact from generations past though its origin is unclear.
When you are in Guangxi, look out for traditional hand pressed rice vermicelli 生榨粉.
Needless to say, hand pressing rice vermicelli is a vanishing craft. Most shops and restaurants now use factory made rice vermicelli which is cheaper and much more convenient.
The Vietnamese have a very similar rice vermicelli known as Bún Tươi which literally means "fresh rice noodles". Some families still make it at home the traditional way but fresh hand made rice noodle shops are no longer seen in Vietnam.
In the India, you will find a similar dish known as Idiyappam which originated from south India. However, instead of cooking by boiling, the rice noodles are cooked by steaming. The same rice noodle is known as Putu Mayam in Singapore and Malaysia. Hand made Putu Mayam can still be found in Malaysia though no longer in Singapore. In Indonesia, the dish is known as Putu Mayang or Putu Mayong.
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