Kuan miao, guan miau, or guan miao–they are the same noodle with its name transliterated differently.
These noodles are from Taiwan and used in soup or fried noodles. Made with only flour and water, these noodles are white, unlike the noodles used by Cantonese and Hokkien cuisine which are yellowish.
When cooked they are fine, finer than spaghetti and thicker than angel’s hair. This makes it a light noodle, like angel’s hair, not dense and doughy like fettucine, or soba. I use these noodles when I am making noodle dishes popular in Taiwan, like Zha Cai Ro Si Tang Mian or Liang Mian, Cold Noodles.
I love the dried version–shown above–because I can keep them in the pantry and have them when I feel like having Taiwan noodles. Boil before use. Noodle cooks in about 4 minutes. Drain for 5 minutes or so. Cook in a stir-fry for fried noodles, or pour soup over to make soup noodles.
Find Guan Miao noodles in supermarkets specializing in Chinese ingredients.
Substitutes would be ramen noodles, or Korean wheat noodles, which can be purchased in Korean supermarkets.
