Noodles – the Long Life Food?

Every Chinese New Year, our family serves noodles. Long noodles. It is a Chinese belief that eating noodles on one’s birthday or during the New Year or the Chinese New Year would bring you long life. It’s an old supertition but it is observed in most families with Asian ancestors. The saying goes, “Noodles for long life!” and the illogical explanation behind the belief is that you are what you eat. Thus, if you eat something that is long and sturdy like Chinese noodles, you will have a long and sturdy life. To make your life therefore a lot more “colorful” and exciting, you may as well top the noodles with everything. By everything, I mean little pieces of mets, chicken, liver pieces and little slices of cabbages and mushrooms. So there, you more or less get the idea.

Real Chinese noodles are sturdy and can be thick and almost square of thick and flat. Unlike the Italian pasta, Chinese noodles are brown in texture, thicker, not too smooth (unless it is vermicelli which isn’t exactly considered real noodles) and a lot more filling. The trick in boiling the noodles the right Asian way is to put a little salt on the water before you boil the moodles. If you want the noodles a less rough, you can also put a little Olive Oil (or any cooking oil for that matter). It is important – and it is LUCKIER – if you are able to cook the noodles without “breaking” them. Cooked noodles should be sturdy.

For luckier noodles, you can sautee red cabbage with any kind of meat. Red to the Chinese have always meant “the good luck color”. Sautee some chicken, meat and liver bits first. After that, add a little water ( I mean like one cup) to the sautee and mix. Place and mix with the noodles. Now, here’s the “added” recipe for “ggod luck” – – add thinly cut red cabbages, carrots, sweet potatoes but make sure that the most visible are the pieces of red cabbages.

Enjoy your meal and BURP for more good luck.