Zhajiang Rice Noodles 渣江米粉
Zhajiang Rice Noodles is featured among the local specialties of Hunan.
Zhajiang Rice Noodles (渣江米粉) are thin, fermented rice noodles from Zhajiang (渣江镇), a town in Hengyang County (衡阳县), Hunan. China National Radio (央广网) calls them a well-known name in Hengyang's breakfast, and in Zhajiang's streets nearly every household sets up racks at the door to dry noodles.
How it is made
The traditional method starts with good early-season indica rice, washed and soaked (Hunan Daily gives 24 hours in hot weather and a week in cold weather), then ground slowly in a stone mill into a batter. The batter is tied up in cloth bags to press out the water, left to ferment naturally, and patted into smooth balls weighing a little over a jin (half a kilogram) each. The balls are steamed or boiled, pounded in a stone mortar, and finally forced through a wooden press into fine strands.
The old method is now also reproduced by machine. Hunan Zhajiang Rice Noodle Industry Co. (湖南渣江米粉产业有限公司), a leading Hengyang producer based in Mulin village (沐林村) in Zhajiang, which Hunan Daily calls the core production area, soaks, mills, steams and cuts the rice in its plant and turns out both fresh and dried noodles.
Flavour and texture
The strands are fine and soft yet chewy. Hunan Daily says that, as refined by today's makers, the noodles are soft as silk, smooth as satin and glossy as jade, glutinous without sticking, with no grit when chewed.
How it is eaten
For a bowl, cooks make a rich broth from minced meat and egg with seasonings, pour it over the boiled noodles and cook them together for about two more minutes.
Where it comes from
One local story ties the noodles to the Xiang Army river fleet (湘军水师) that Zeng Guofan (曾国藩) and Peng Yulin (彭玉麟) formed at Hengyang in the Xianfeng reign (咸丰) of the Qing dynasty. Most of its soldiers were northerners who missed wheat noodles, so an army cook dried leftover rice, ground it into batter, fermented it and pressed it into noodles. A late-Qing Hengyang County gazetteer (衡阳县志), quoted by Hunan Daily, calls them bright in colour, tasty and widely eaten, a speciality of the county's western district. Zhajiang Rice Noodles were named a Hunan time-honoured brand at the end of 2022.
Sources & reading
Written from the linked sources and fact-checked against them on 2026-09-24. Recipes and servings vary between kitchens.
Image credits & notes (1)
- Reference photo of a similar dish · 同类菜品参考照片A similar preparation is pictured; the local version may differ. 同类菜品参考照片，当地做法可能不同。Photo: Mystery6002 · CC0Resized for the web; the photo itself has not been edited. Thumbnails may show a cropped view.
