Guilin Rice Noodles

Guilin rice noodles (Guilin mifen) are the defining food of Guilin city and one of the most widely recognised regional noodle dishes of southern China. They are eaten at breakfast across Guangxi, typically from noodle shops that open before dawn and close when the day's stock runs out. The dish has spread to dedicated chain restaurants in major cities, though the original shop-style version remains the reference point.

The noodles themselves are made from rice flour — smooth, white, and round in cross-section, similar to the Vietnamese pho noodle but usually somewhat thicker. They are softer and more yielding than wheat noodles, with a mild, neutral flavour that exists primarily as a vehicle for the dressing and toppings.

The defining element of Guilin rice noodles is the lu — the savoury master stock that is the shop's signature and is typically kept simmering for years, building in complexity with each day's additions. The lu is made from beef bones and pork bones simmered for hours with a wide range of aromatics and spices including cassia, star anise, black cardamom, clove, dried tangerine peel, and dried shiitake mushroom. The resulting stock is dark, deeply savoury, and complex. At serving, a ladleful of this lu is drizzled over the noodles rather than poured as a full soup; the dish is eaten primarily dry-tossed rather than as a soup bowl.

The toppings are assembled to order from a bank of pre-cooked components: thin slices of lu-braised beef or pork, a spoonful of the braised meat's sauce, fried peanuts for crunch, pickled daikon radish (crisp and mildly sour), pickled long beans, chopped scallion, and often coriander. A soup version also exists where additional lu broth is added to make a wet bowl, which is common in colder months.

The correct way to eat Guilin rice noodles is to mix everything together before eating — the lu coats the noodles and everything else blends into a coherent bite.