A hand lifts a thin sheet out of a steaming round pan into a basin of cold water, while beside it a bowl of cut strips is dressed with chili oil, sesame and shredded cucumber, next to small bowls of toppings and an earthenware jug.
Batter steamed to a sheet
Introduction
Foods made by steaming a rice batter, or a wheat batter with the gluten washed out, into a thin skin and cutting it into strips, usually dressed and eaten cold.
Steamed sheet noodles are made by spreading a wheat batter, from which the gluten has been washed out, or a rice batter in a round flat pan, steaming it into a thin skin, cooling it in cold water, and cutting it into strips about half a centimetre to two centimetres wide. Made from wheat flour it is called mianpi, made from rice mipi, and other names include ganmianpi and niangpi. It is usually eaten cold, dressed with seasoning and side ingredients, though hot versions exist. The class is set by method, with steamed skins of wheat and of rice kept together; flat rice noodles such as hefen and guotiao are also steamed from batter and cut, but in this scheme they belong to rice noodles.