In the north, wheat; In the south, rice

China is such a huge country and some form of classification is necessary to distinguish its cuisine. According to Richard Hughes (China Cooking, Hong Kong and China Gas Company), the “most basic, and traditional, division is between the cooking of the rice eaters of the central provinces and the south, and that of the northerners, eaters more of wheat and other grains.” It is the local climate that determines what crop is cultivated and the north is too cold for rice to grow.

In 2007, Tea of Spring Restaurant at Shangri-La’s Mactan Resort held a Chinese Food Festival called “Oodles of Noodles” and a   Beijing Guest Chef demonstrated the Art of Hand-pulled Noodles. And last August 2010, it was the turn of Xian Guest Chef Sun Yi Li at the “La Mien - A Celebration of Noodles.”

All noodles start with some variety of grain like wheat and some form of processing is necessary for ease of cooking. Ancient people used stone to break the wheat and separate the flour. Three types of flour are produced according to protein content. Soft wheat flour (8 to 10 percent) used for cookies and biscuit, Medium wheat flour (10.5 to 12.5 percent) for noodles and Hard wheat flour with 13 to 14.5 protein is ideal for making breads (General Milling Corporation).

To make hand pulled noodles, special dough is required and the dough, according to Florence Lin’s Complete Book of Chinese Noodles, Dumpling and Bread, could be made from this mixture: 1 cup unsifted unbleached flour, 2 1/2 cups unsifted bread flour and three teaspoons baking powder. Using the same book as a guide, your favourite food columnist did make some noodles in the past like the Chinese egg noodles, Chinese eggless noodles, Green jade noodles, Silver needle noodles aided by a pasta machine but was unsuccessful in making the Yi Fu noodle and the Pulled noodles.

I also had tried to make a noodle soup and the initial results were the most horrible concoctions. Borrowing the book of the Hong Kong and China Gas Company from SWU Chairman Bombi Aznar, I got the recipe for the soup stock which is the base for many Chinese soup dishes. To make Superior Stock (Shang T’ang), you need 1 large native chicken (2.5 kilos), Yunnan Ham (30 grams, cubed), 5 slices of ginger, 2 spring onions, salt, white pepper and two liters of water.

At the “La Mien - A Celebration of Noodles”, a select group of friends from the media were served a platter with the following appetizers: Marinated Pork Knuckles, Sliced Beef Shank, Barbecued Pork Loin, Jellyfish Salad and Shrimp Wonton. Medyo very healthy appetites, excuse me, that night and an extra serving of that wonderful Shrimp Wonton with Mayonnaise was most welcome.

The main courses were three noodles soup dishes: Noodles with Abalone, Noodles with Lobster Meat and the Beef Noodles. The main advantage of consuming freshly prepared noodles is the absence of preservatives found in commercially prepared versions. Left over noodles from my early experiments had the most luxuriant growth of fungi a mere 48 hours later! Each participant of the feast had their own favorites including this writer who found the Beef Noodles to have the most interesting taste.

Dessert was the Chilled Mango Puree with Pomelo and Sago and Homemade Mochi. Some mochi are made with red bean paste, white bean paste or even black sesame but the Shangri-La version was made with creamy mango. (THE FREEMAN)