Guo Gou Rice Noodles Introduction
In the early morning, when the sky is still dimly lit, the courtyard is crowded with buyers. After the crowd thins out, the goods are pushed to the temple entrance, and everything is usually sold out within an hour, even before 8 AM. This is the legend of "Guogou Rice Noodles." The founder, Zhuang Jinhua (born in 1938), faced the tragedy of losing her son. With her daughter-in-law, Yu Liangying (also known as Ah Yue), needing to work outside, Zhuang Jinhua began making and selling bowl cakes while taking care of her three young grandchildren to support the household. Later, her sister taught her the secrets of making rice noodles, and she switched to selling rice noodles instead. Zhuang Jinhua initially peddled her goods along the streets with a lead bucket, later transitioned to a cart, and eventually settled at the temple entrance for sales. In 2010, as Zhuang Jinhua grew older, her daughter-in-law Yu Liangying took over the business, continuing the legend of "Guogou Rice Noodles" at the temple entrance. The process of making rice noodles is quite labor-intensive. The night before, the rice (pure glutinous rice) must be soaked for 5 hours. Waking up at around 2 AM, the rice is ground into a rice paste using a grinding machine, keeping a small portion for thickening later, while the rest is poured into a large pot and manually stir-fried until dry. Then, flour and sweet potato starch are thoroughly mixed in a blender to prepare the dough for cutting. Scallions are lightly fried until fragrant, then shrimp, fried scallions, and five-spice powder are added and sautéed until aromatic. The mixture is set aside, and water is boiled in the pot...
