Longevity noodles are always lovingly prepared in an Asian household to celebrate one's birthday. It symbolises a long life of happiness, as its Chinese name chang shou mian (or literally, long-life noodles) suggests.
You might enjoy eating it daily or want to cook it for your loved ones. Either way, we have done an extensive taste test of our recipes to bring you two ways to cook this dish.
Whether you prefer a bowl of hot soup or the greasiness of stir-fried dishes, continue reading to find out more about the dish and its recipes so you can cook your version of this dish!
Jump to:
What is it made of?
Longevity noodles contain long, thin Asian wheat flour noodles (or mian (麺) in Chinese) cooked in a broth seasoned with vegetables, sesame oil and soy sauce. They can also be stir-fried with Chinese egg noodles, which is the Hokkien way of eating them. Hokkien is a Chinese dialect group from Southeast China.
Some people like to make homemade longevity noodles from scratch. You can form these types of mian by pulling wheat flour dough into long, elastic strips and cooking them.
While it takes more effort, handmade mian tastes better than hand-cut and machine-made noodles. The springy, chewy texture of freshly cooked noodles is worth the hard work!
Longevity Noodles Meaning
Longevity Noodles have a symbolic meaning. When you slurp down a bowl of chang shou mian, which translates to ‘long life or long face noodles’ in Chinese, tradition says that it means you will receive happiness and longevity.
Therefore, the Chinese often eat them during Chinese New Year and have them on other auspicious celebrations, such as birthdays.
The practice stems from the Han Chinese belief that people with long faces tend to live longer. Therefore, they started eating these long-life noodles. If you have a bowl of mian, you must eat the entire strand in one seat.
Chinese New Year and Longevity Noodles
Longevity noodles are eaten during Chinese New Year because it's the start of a new year, and we want to wish everyone an auspicious beginning. The unbroken length of the mian is a sign of all good things to come for the person who is eating it, smoothly without any challenges.
The cook never serves the strands cut or severed, and the person eating should try to eat each strand in one full gulp.
Cooks usually prepare the dish with garlic, shallots, diced tomato, mushrooms, and baby bok choy. They usually cook all of these with soothing chicken broth. However, you will also see some cooks stir-frying the dish, usually with a light touch of sesame or peanut oil for flavour.
Similar to shrimp chow mein recipe, you can always mix up the ingredients slightly to suit your preferences.
If you want to cook vegetarian longevity noodles, or prepare a vegan version, purchase a packet of mian without eggs. Usually, the packages sold in supermarkets are typically made from these ingredients: wheat, water, salt and oil. Do an extra check that the packaging ingredient does not include eggs, and you are good to use them for a vegan adaptation.
For instance, this packet of chang shou mein sold on Amazon is egg-free. It even comes with a pair of chopsticks to practise your mian-handling skills!
Birthdays
The Chinese tradition of celebrating birthdays is that the cake is optional, but longevity noodles for birthdays are a must. These strands of flour vermicelli are called mee sua in Hokkien. Smooth, long and uncut, that's how Asian parents typically serve them to the birthday recipient. For a good reason - when the main strands are long, they symbolise long life.
A hot piping bowl of vermicelli in chicken broth is how it's usually served. The longevity noodles soup is comforting and conveys the cook's warm wishes. Eggs represent a new start, and the Chinese believe red is an auspicious colour.
Finally, we can consider longevity noodles vegetarian since the vermicelli usually has no eggs. We would cook this vermicelli bowl in a broth of boiled lotus root, mushrooms, carrots, and leafy greens instead of chicken for most vegetarians.
Calories
Stir-fried Longevity noodles calories are an estimated 500 kcal, with 153kcal from fat. If the dish is cooked in soup, the calorie count usually ranges from 150 to 300 kcal depending on what toppings are added.
Where to buy Longevity noodles
You can buy pre-made Longevity noodles at any Asian grocery supermarket or on Amazon. They are usually in a red box with directions for preparing them. Look out for the thin strands of vermicelli if you prefer to cook a soup based version. However, find yellow egg noodles if you want to stir-fry the dish.
Chang Shou Mian (Longevity Noodles pack)
Buy Now
Homemade Longevity noodles
You can make your handmade longevity noodles, but most people usually buy store made mian for easy cooking.
Ingredients
To make your handmade noodles, you will need:
- Two cups (250 g) of all-purpose flour or high-gluten flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup (180 ml) room-temperature water
- Vegetable oil as needed
How to make handmade longevity noodles
To knead your handmade mian, follow these steps:
First, you will need to combine flour and salt together. Add room-temperature water slowly while mixing the dough. Knead the dough till it blends into a smooth ball. Cover it with plastic wrap and let it rest at room temperature for twenty minutes when you see that the dough has fully formed.
Then, remove the plastic wrap and knead the dough in the bowl repeatedly before wrapping it and letting it rest.
When ready to shape your longevity noodles, take out your dough. Brush a bit of oil on the dough and roll each piece of dough into a long, snake-like cylindrical shape. Then repeat the process: cover with plastic wrap before placing them in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes if you want to use them immediately.
How to cook handmade mian
Now it's time to cook your mian. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let it rest at room temperature. Heat a large pot with water.
Pull the ends of the dough gently to stretch it without breaking it. Loop the dough into a large ring. Place your hands shoulder-width apart and lift the dough ring with your hands.
Stretch the noodle ring outward while flipping it up and down on the work counter. Keep pulling until the noodle is thinner in diameter, but be careful not to break it.
Repeat the process until your dough is elastic and fully stretched. Then, throw the noodles into the boiling water right away. Keep stirring so the strands of dough do not stick to themselves or the pot's side.
When the water boils, pour a cup of cold water into the pot. Bring back to a boil and cook before adding cold water. Once the pot boils again, you can scoop the noodles out. You should have cooked the noodles for two to three minutes in total.
Cooking Tips
Cooking springy-tasting longevity noodles is not a stretch of your imagination. You need to follow these tips to ensure that they are not soggy or undercooked. You also want to make sure the noodles do not break.
Stir-fry Version
As for stir-frying, try not to use aggressive stir fry movements when cooking the longevity noodles. Most mian purchased from stores is hard and dry. To prepare them, you will need to boil them until they are soft. Drain the mian when they are about 85-90 per cent cooked.
Then, place enough oil to stir-fry the mian so that the strands do not stick to the wok or pan. Avoid using a spatula. Instead, use chopsticks and minimise the movement of stir-frying. Try to keep the stir-fry time to five minutes and do not leave them in the wok for too long, as they will become mushy and break apart.
Traditional Soup Version
The first tip is to choose the right vermicelli. Yi mian is the best choice as it has a unique taste due to the soda water in the dough. Usually, the cooks deep-fry Yi mian before adding broth to ensure an extra bouncy texture.
The first tip is to cook your mian and soup separately. When you cook the vermicelli in the soup, they become mushy and even affect the broth's taste.
It would help if you cooked the mian, then immediately drain and rinse them with cold water. That way, you prevent the strands of longevity noodles from absorbing too much water content.
The next tip is to add the soup only at the last step. Put the pre-cook mian into a bowl, add the soup and enjoy it right away. You might see this at restaurants when cooks toss noodles into a bowl before pouring piping hot soup!
What happens if you want to have leftovers? The same theory applies - keep the mian apart from the broth.
Longevity Noodles Stir Fry | Chinese New Year Celebration
Ingredients
- 12 oz long life noodles (12 ounces/340g, dry)
- ⅛ teaspoon sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon hot water
- 2 tsps regular soy sauce
- 2 tsps dark soy sauce
- 2 tbsps oyster sauce
- ½ teaspoon sesame oil
- Freshly ground white pepper
- 3-4 tbsps vegetable oil
- 5 dried shiitake mushrooms
- 8 oz Chinese chives
Instructions
- Pre-cook your longevity noodles in a pot of boiling water for 3-4 minutes or until they are slightly undercooked. Drain and set aside.
- Dissolve the sugar and salt in hot water. Add the regular soy sauce, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, and white pepper. Stir until combined.
- Heat the wok, and spread two tablespoons of oil around the perimeter. Chop the chives, separating the dark and light parts. Add the mushrooms and the dark parts of the chives. Stir fry for 30 seconds.
- Add the noodles and stir fry. Spread the sauce mixture evenly over the noodles stir-fry everything together for 1 minute. Spread oil or pour hot water if you need the strands to unstick.
- Gently toss the mian and add in any remaining vegetables. Now, you are ready to serve your dish.
Video
Nutrition
Calories have been calculated using an online calculator. Nutritional information offered on Honest Food Talks is for general information purposes and are only rough estimations.
If you’re a visual learner, we recommend checking out Busy Daddy Cooks’ video recipe on how she makes stir-fried longevity noodles at home.
Homemade Longevity Noodle Soup | Traditional Chinese Birthday Meal
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon peanut oil
- ½ teaspoon minced garlic
- 2 medium sliced shallots
- 1 medium diced tomato
- 2-3 dried wood ear mushrooms
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 bundle vermicelli
- 3 cups coarsely chopped greens of your choice
- 1 teaspoon fish sauce
- freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon oyster sauce
Instructions
- Heat peanut oil in a pot over medium heat. Stir the minced garlic, sliced shallots and diced tomato into boiling water. Add the thinly sliced mushrooms to the pot and cook for a few minutes.
- Pour in chicken broth and let the water boil. Add the vermicelli (about 7oz for 2 pax) and vegetables. Then, season your pot of longevity noodles with fish sauce, black pepper, and oyster sauce. Let boil for two to three minutes.
- Turn off the heat. Wait for your ingredients to finish cooking for a few minutes. Add salt and adjust seasonings. Once cooled, you can serve your dish.
Notes
Nutrition
Calories have been calculated using an online calculator. Nutritional information offered on Honest Food Talks is for general information purposes and are only rough estimations.
While some people only eat longevity noodles for special occasions, many people also like the dish's versatility. Fried with greens or served in a hot chicken broth, it makes a comforting dish. We hope you have enjoyed cooking this dish! If you want more recipes, follow us @honestfoodtalks.
Looking for another hearty Chinese dish to enjoy? We recommend checking out our Chinese chicken corn soup recipe!
Geraldine
My mum has always cooked the soup broth version until I found out from a friend that there's a dry version too. Love how simple yet how delicious it is! Thank you for the recipe 🙂