Okay, I know what rice vermicelli is, but I’m unsure about Xiao Qiao. Let’s ask Wikipedia –
The Qiao sisters are featured as characters in the 14th-century historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which romanticises the historical events before and during the Three Kingdoms period. In the novel, the Chinese character for “Qiao” in their names, 橋/桥, is replaced with 喬/乔.
In the novel, the Qiao sisters are the daughters of a certain Qiao Guolao (喬國老; literally “State Elder Qiao”), possibly referring to Qiao Xuan. Zhou Yu‘s biography in the third-century historical text Records of the Three Kingdoms did not mention the name of the Qiao sisters’ father, who was simply referred to as Qiao Gong (橋公; literally “Elder Qiao” or “Lord Qiao”). Historically, Qiao Xuan died in 184,[3] while the Qiao sisters married Sun Ce and Zhou Yu around 199,[1][4] so it was not possible that Qiao Xuan was still living when the marriages took place. Therefore, it is highly unlikely that Qiao Xuan was the “Qiao Gong” mentioned in Zhou Yu’s biography.
In Chapter 44 of the novel, Zhuge Liang tells Zhou Yu that Cao Cao‘s desire to have the Two Qiaos for himself is evident in “Ode to the Bronze Sparrow Platform” (銅雀臺賦), a poem written by Cao Cao’s son Cao Zhi. An enraged Zhou Yu then hardens his decision to convince Sun Quan to ally with Liu Bei against Cao Cao.
So are these noodles named after the younger sister? Interesting. Well, let’s give them a try!
Sau Tao Xiao Qiao Rice Vermicelli Hot & Sour Soup Flavour – Hong Kong
Detail of the packaging (click to enlarge). Looks to be meat free but check for yourself. To prepare, boil vermicelli in 600ml water for 2 minutes. Add in sachet contents. Finally, stir and enjoy!
The rice vermicelli.
A dry soup base sachet.
A wet sauce sachet.
A wet sachet of black vinegar.
Finished (click to enlarge). Added spring onion, egg, Salad Cosmo mung bean sprouts, black sesame seeds, and pepper flake. Rice vermicelli had a good character to it – worked well with me. The soup was where it lost its charm. for this reviewer. The strength of the black vinegar was kind of overwhelming. Spiciness was enjoyable, but even that was run over like a freight train. I would also say the sheer amount of broth was not to my liking. Can’t love ’em all. 1.25 out of 5.0 stars. EAN bar code 087303866205.
The Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Watch me cook on Instant Noodle RecipeTime!
