Misua
Fried misua with vegetables
Alternative namesWheat vermicelli
TypeChinese noodles
Place of originChina
Region or stateFujian
Main ingredientsWheat flour
Misua
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese麵線
Simplified Chinese面线
Literal meaningnoodle threads
Khmer name
Khmerមីសួ (mii suə)

Misua (also spelled mee sua or miswa; Chinese: 麵線; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: mī-sòaⁿ), also known as wheat vermicelli, is a very thin variety of salted noodles made from wheat flour.[1] It originated in Fujian, China.[1] The noodles differ from mifen (rice vermicelli) and cellophane noodles in that those varieties are made from rice and mung beans, respectively.

Description

Misua is made from wheat flour.[2] Cooking misua usually takes less than two minutes in boiling water, and sometimes significantly less.

Bola-bola with misua (Philippines)

Culture

Misua is cooked during important festivities, and eaten in mainland China as well in Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, Brunei, Thailand, Myanmar, and particularly in both Taiwan and the Philippines, which have the highest populations of Fujianese outside of mainland China.

Misua signifies long life in Chinese culture, and as such is a traditional birthday food. Because of this, it is often discouraged to chew or cut misua noodles.[3] It is usually served with ingredients such as eggs, tofu, bell peppers,[3] oysters, pig's large intestine,[2] shiitake mushroom, beef, shallots, or scallions, roasted nuts or fried fish.

In Taiwan, there are two forms of misua. The first is plain, while the second has been steamed at high heat, caramelizing it to a light brown colour. For birthdays, plain misua is usually served plain with pork hocks (猪腳麵線) in stewed broth as a Taiwanese birthday tradition. Brown misua can be cooked for prolonged periods without disintegrating in the cooking broth and is used in oyster vermicelli (蚵仔麵線), a dish popular in Taiwan.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Albala, K. (2017). Noodle Soup: Recipes, Techniques, Obsession. University of Illinois Press. p. 173. ISBN 978-0-252-05019-0. Retrieved August 26, 2018.
  2. 1 2 Cosmo, S. (2017). The Ultimate Pasta and Noodle Cookbook. Cider Mill Press. p. 92. ISBN 978-1-60433-733-4. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
  3. 1 2 "LIST: 'Lucky food' to prepare for Chinese New year, and why". Rappler. January 24, 2020. Retrieved August 18, 2022.


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