Asian Civilization: Chinese rice noodles to enter North American market

World
Europe

02:57

Rice and noodles have long been two of China's most popular food staples. In China's central and southern regions, the two are combined into rice noodles. Widely popular in several provinces, those who make rice noodles are now eyeing more overseas markets for them. Will they sell? CGTN's Li Jianhua takes a closer look.

What do you usually have for breakfast?

This small town in central China might be different, people here are "crazy" for rice noodles.

Dipping the rice noodles in boiling hot water just a couple of times. Pouring a ladle of well-prepared beef sauce, or other toppings you fancy. This is how people here start a new day.

FENG LIHUA, GENERAL MANAGER WENXIANGYUE FOOD AND BEVERAGE MANAGEMENT CO., LTD "Rice noodles in Changde have a history of about 300 years. They are breakfast staples here. Fresh pork and beef bones are boiled for eight hours as the soup base. Since 1999, we have opened 45 franchise shops, and at each one, 500 to 800 bowls of rice noodles are sold per day."

500 bowls in a shop alone. How about in the city?

LI JIANHUA CHANGDE, HUNAN PROVINCE "Rice noodles are extremely popular here in China. In this city alone, nearly 300,000 bowls are sold on a daily basis. They are limited in this area of China, but some companies plan to explore the overseas market. The problem is how to keep them fresh. Now I'm gonna start with my noodles."

Then we visited one of the biggest rice noodle manufacturers in the country, what you see is pile after pile of rice.

ZHU RUYAN, GENERAL MANAGER CHANGDE YUAN HONG FOOD CO., LTD "We use around 15-thousand kilograms of rice every day and produce nearly 50-thousand kilos of rice noodles. The noodles here are smooth and resilient. Our product takes up some 15 percent of China's total market."

One difference for rice noodles here is this. Rice stays in the fermentation tanks for about two days till it's ready.

Ground and mixed, the semi-product is squeezed into noodles and undergoes the cooling process.

Oodles of the noodles are sold nationwide, and some, though not many, are expected mainly to Southeast Asian countries.

SUN QUAN CHAIRMAN, CHANGDE YUAN HONG FOOD CO., LTD "We plan to sell our product overseas under the Belt and Road initiative. It used to be difficult to keep the noodles fresh. Through research we've found a way to keep them fresh for up to a year. The new production line will be ready in June."

The company is entering the Canadian market this June, but the majority of the consumers are still Chinese nationals living there. Also, they are eyeing the European market down the road. LJH, CGTN, CHANGDE, HUNAN PROVINCE.