Hot dry noodles
Hot dry noodles (simplified Chinese: 热干面; traditional Chinese: 熱乾麵; pinyin: règānmiàn), known in Chinese as reganmian, also transliterated as dried and spicy noodles, is a traditional dish of Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province in central China. Hot dry noodles have an 80-year history in Chinese food culture; they are unique because the noodles are not in a broth like most other Asian-style hot noodle dishes.
They are the most significant, famous and popular breakfast food in Wuhan, often sold by street carts and restaurants in residential and business areas.
Breakfasts such as hot dry noodles are available from about 5 am, and usually appear at Wuhan's night markets as a late-night snack. These noodles can be prepared within minutes and are affordable, so they are a popular breakfast. There are hot dry noodle restaurants all over the city.
Typical hot dry noodle dishes contain soy sauce, sesame paste, pickled vegetables (carrots and beans), chopped garlic chives and chili oil. Hot dry noodles, along with Shanxi's knife-cut noodles (刀削面; 刀削麵; dāoxiāomiàn), Liangguang's yifumian, Sichuan's dandanmian, and northern China's zhajiangmian, are collectively referred to as the "top five noodles of China" by People's Daily, and in a 2013 article titled "China's Top 10 famous noodles" Business Insider reported that CNTV rated reganmian the top Chinese noodle dish. The specifics of the preparation of hot dry noodles is discussed in Wuhan author Chi Li's novel Cold or Hot, It's Good to Live (冷也好热也好活着就好).
