La mian

	La mian being stretched in a Lanzhou-style restaurant in Dongchong
Traditional Chinese:	拉麵
Simplified Chinese:	拉面
Literal meaning:	pulled noodle
Transliterations
	Mandarin
- Hanyu Pinyin:	lāmiàn

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Not to be confused with lo mein or ramen.

La mian is a type of hand-made or hand-pulled Chinese noodle. It is also the name of the dishes that use these noodles.

[edit] Etymology and preparation

Dishes using la mian are usually served in a beef or mutton-flavored soup, but sometimes stir-fried and served with a tomato-based sauce. Literally, 拉 (lā) means to pull or stretch, while 麵 (miàn) means noodle. The hand-making process involves taking a lump of dough and repeatedly stretching it to produce many strands of thin, long noodle.

[edit] China

Small restaurants serving Lanzhou-style la mian are very common in eastern Chinese cities. They tend to serve a variety of low cost meals, with a choice of la mian, 'dāo xīao mìan' (刀削麵, knife-sliced noodles) and perhaps Xi'an-style 'paomo' (泡饃, steamed bread). Noodles may be served with beef or mutton, either in soup or stir-fried. Many of these la mian restaurants are owned by Hui ethnic families from Gansu, Qinghai and Xinjiang^{[citation needed]}, (in Xinjiang they are known as "laghman" in Uyghur), and serve only halal food (thus no pork dishes).

Another typical variety of la mian is Shandong lamian (山东拉面), from the eastern province of Shandong.

[edit] Japan

La mian was introduced in Japan (Chinatowns of Kobe or Yokohama) during the Meiji era. Ramen is the Japanese pronunciation of the term; however, ramen is prepared very differently from la mian.

[edit] Korea

The Korean term ramyeon (라면) is derived from la mian.

[edit] Central Asia

In Central Asia the dish has thicker noodles and is significantly spicier, and is known as laghman. It is most popular in Kyrgyzstan, where it is considered the national dish. It is also popular in Northern Afghanistan, where chick peas are added to it and in the Chitral and Gilgit regions of Pakistan where it is known as Kalli or Dau Dau.