Ban mian

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"Ban mian", so named because of the shape of the noodles, is often served with vegetables, anchovies and other condiments.

Ban mian (Simplified Chinese: 板面; Traditional Chinese: 辦麵; pinyin: bǎnmiàn) is a Hokkien-style egg noodle soup common in parts of Fujian province in the China, and also in other parts of the world such as Singapore and Malaysia, although the dish itself may vary significantly. Some forms of Ban mian, for instance, comprises hand-kneaded pieces of dough, while others use regular strips of noodles.

Ban mian (literally "board noodles") is so named due to the characteristic flat shape of its noodles.

[edit] China

Ban mian served in parts of China, such as in northern Fujian, comprises egg noodles which are boiled, and served in sesame butter sauce, and in soup.

[edit] Singapore and Malaysia

In Singapore and Malaysia, health conscious individuals are taking to ban mian, due to its relatively generous serving of vegetables and less use of seasoning and other artificial ingredients. Also known as handmade ban mian (手工板面), it is, however, made using a hand-operated machine in the stall which forms noodles from the dough. The dish is served in soup usually with pieces of minced pork, ikan bilis (anchovies), vegetables, and an egg, and also commonly comes with sliced mushrooms and fish balls.

In Singapore, the handmade ban mian stalls often offer alternative toppings. For example, one can order ban mian with deep fried fish or fresh slices of fish.