Noodle Nests

Dried noodles are a common sight around the streets and marketplaces of the city. Resembling string, wool or, indeed, the bleached bun of Cindy McCain depending on the angle you come upon them, the noodles above are made from cassava.

Called mien, they are commonly dunked momentarily in water before being served with chicken (mien ga), eel (mien luon) or to finish off the hot pot ritual. After rehydration, the long glassy filaments require deft chopstick management to reach their location: my mouth. One hot string dropped on a bare leg might have one cussing. In fact, scissors are often deployed by vendors to minimise such an occurrence

The ones on the right ('the Cindy McCains') have had bleach treatment, the ones on the left not.

Comments

[Chubbypanda]

I love noodles in all forms.

[Nguyen Thi Thu Thuy]

Made from a kind of tuber plant familiar to cassava, Mien threads are very long and tough. When being served, these long tiny flour threads are cut into smaller pieces.This kind of cassava vermicelli is used to make several different dishes. The most popular is Mien Ga (chicken cassava vermicelli), Mien Bo (beef cassava vermicelli) and Mien Luon (eel cassava vermicelli). Cassava vermicelli is also used for different dishes stirred in fat such as Mien Xao Thit (vermicelli and pork stirred in fat), Mien Xao Long Ga (vermicelli and chicken tripe stirred in fat) and Mien Xao Cua (vermicelli and sea crab meat stirred in fat).