The Taiwanese family keeping the noodle-making art alive
| Fuxing, Taiwan
They work barefoot all morning, each so intently that they聽hardly ever speak. In one small room of their home, Lin聽Zheng Yi kneads noodle dough by hand, and in another,聽his wife, Liao Li Mei, rolls a different batch onto two bamboo聽poles attached to a wall. The dough will stretch there before being聽hung out in the sun to dry like laundry 鈥� part of a centuries-old process that has been passed down through generations.
鈥淢ost people now make the noodles by machine,鈥� Mr. Lin聽says. 鈥淏ut we will continue the tradition until we retire.鈥�
The couple and Mr. Lin鈥檚 mother, who live in Fuxing on Taiwan鈥檚 western coast, are one of the last families on the island to聽prepare misua 鈥� a wheat vermicelli 鈥� mostly by hand. They use the聽same method that migrants from China鈥檚 Fujian聽province brought with them in the 17th century.聽As Ms. Liao explains, these long, extra-thin聽noodles 鈥� made only from wheat flour, water,聽and salt 鈥� used to be 鈥渆aten on holidays or to聽celebrate birthdays as a symbol of longevity,聽but nowadays they are eaten every day.鈥�
The work starts daily by 5 a.m., beginning聽with the kneading and stretching. At midmorning, the couple take what they鈥檝e prepared out聽to their courtyard, which soon becomes covered聽with noodles resembling giant hammocks made聽of fine threads, about 3 millimeters (one-tenth聽of an inch) thick and 5 meters (16 feet) long.聽The next step is to fold the noodles in half and聽hang them vertically, turning the hammocks聽into curtains 2 meters long. The following聽morning, the noodles cook for six hours in a聽wood-fired oven before they can be cut and聽packed for sale.
The couple鈥檚 grown children are not interested in continuing the long family tradition.
Gazing proudly at his daughter, Mr. Lin says聽he is glad that his children are dedicating themselves to other ways of making a living.聽Still, he聽explains, 鈥淚 am sad to lose the trade I learned聽from my father and grandfather.鈥�
