Silver Needle Noodles — Yin Zhen Fen / Lao Shu Fen (銀針粉 / 老鼠粉)
What it is
Short, plump rice noodles tapered to a point at both ends, resembling silver needles — or, in the blunter Cantonese name lao shu fen ("rat-tail noodles"), little rodent tails. Stubby and chewy rather than long.
How it's made
A cooked rice-flour (sometimes with tapioca/wheat starch) dough is pressed through a perforated plate or rolled and cut so each piece pinches off into a short, double-pointed spindle, then boiled or steamed. The shape comes from the extrusion, not from cutting strands.
Flavor profile
Mild rice flavor; the texture is everything — short, bouncy, slippery, and notably chewy/QQ, with a pleasant resistance you don't get from long rice noodles.
Culinary uses
Stir-fried Cantonese/Hakka style with dark soy, bean sprouts, chives, and egg; also served in soup or with curry. Popular in Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Singapore. Its short shape makes it easy to spoon and ideal for saucy stir-fries.
Regional variations
A Cantonese and Hakka specialty that became a hawker favorite across Malaysia and Singapore, where it's often dry-fried with thick soy. Variants use different starch blends for more or less chew.
Cultural & historical context
Lao shu fen is humble, frugal home and street food — a way to turn rice flour into a hearty, distinctive noodle without specialized stretching skill. The two names (poetic "silver needle" vs. earthy "rat noodle") capture the Chinese habit of giving a single food both an elegant and a colloquial identity.
Reference notes
- Tags: chinese, cantonese, hakka, rice, rice-noodle, short-noodle, chewy, stir-fry-noodle
- Base: rice flour (± tapioca/wheat starch)
- Related ingredients: dark soy, bean sprouts, chives, egg
- Related cuisines: Chinese (Cantonese/Hakka), Malaysian, Singaporean
- Suggested Cuisinopedia links: → Mi Fen (rice noodle family), → He Fen (Cantonese rice noodle), → Bee Hoon (SE Asian)
---