Long-Life Noodles

March 15, 2011 5:42 AM

I'm looking for long-life noodles (or a method for making them) and a recipe to put them in.

My father is turning 60 in a month, and we're throwing a big party for him. His side of the family is Cantonese, and while I've got most of the food under my belt I'm having a really hard time finding a long-life noodle dish. I'm also a little lost finding the proper noodles for the dish; my last trip to the local Asian Megamart was pretty daunting.

So, I need help with two things:
-What noodles am I looking for specifically for a long-life noodle dish? If you can provide the Chinese spelling and a transliteration that would be great.
-What is a traditional long-life noodle dish for milestone birthdays?

posted by backseatpilot to Food & Drink (3 answers total)

In Mandarin, longevity noodles are 寿面 (shòu​miàn​). The dictionary tells me that the traditional versions of those characters are 壽麵; I dunno how that'd be pronounced in Cantonese. I think I've seen dried packaged longevity noodles at my local Asian grocery, and the Wikipedia entry gives a couple alternate names and has a picture of some packaged noodles. I dunno anything about how to prepare them, though.
posted by Vibrissa at 6:30 AM on March 15, 2011

The Chinese supermarkets in New York sell Golden Bowl brand, which come in a large red box (like maybe 12" square, 3" deep) labeled "Longevity Noodle" in English. They are thick, wrapped in a circle, and contain eggs, flour & vegetable oil as the only ingredients.
posted by bcwinters at 6:54 AM on March 15, 2011

Cantonese tradition may be different, but it doesn't matter for people from North China what kind of noodles, as long as they are noodles. Any from your local Chinese supermarket should work.
posted by hgcrpd at 7:38 AM on March 15, 2011