On Yuxing Street in Miaoli City, people are already lining up before five in the morning. One pot of boiling water, one pot of bone broth — wide flat noodles made from pure indica rice are briefly swirled in the broth, topped with garlic chives, fried shallots, and braised pork, and a single bowl warms you from your stomach to your fingertips. Hakka flat rice noodles (also called "mianpa ban," meaning "face-cloth rice cake") are a shared signature dish across the three major Hakka flat noodle centers of Miaoli, Hsinchu, and Meinong in Pingtung, and Miaoli's version is especially known for its soup-based style, kept alive by century-old shops that never stopped.
What are Hakka Flat Rice Noodles
Hakka flat rice noodles are made by grinding indica rice (long-grain rice) into a slurry, spreading it in a thin layer on a steamer tray or iron plate, steaming it until set, and then cutting it into strips about 1 to 1.5 cm wide after it cools. Because the shape resembles the face cloths of old, they are called "mianpa ban" in the Hakka language. There are two main preparations: the soup version, with a bone broth base topped with garlic chives, fried shallots, and braised pork; and the stir-fried version, tossed with shredded pork, mushrooms, bean sprouts, and scallions over high heat. Made entirely from rice, the texture is thicker and smoother than Vietnamese rice noodles, with a distinct rice fragrance.
"Qiu Family Flat Noodles" on Yuxing Street in Miaoli City has passed to its fourth generation. The founder was already carrying the noodles by shoulder pole in front of Miaoli Train Station during the Japanese Showa era, and the shop has been known for its pure indica rice handmade noodles ever since. The braised pork, garlic chives, and fried shallot aroma of the soup version is the taste embedded in generations of Miaoli residents' memories. Representative long-established shops can also be found in Gongguan Township's "Fule Noodle Shop" and various places in Tongluo and Toufen, with slight differences in broth and braised pork recipes from kitchen to kitchen. Flat rice noodles are a regular item at Miaoli breakfast and late-night stalls — you can find them from four or five in the morning through midnight.
How to eat it like a local
Local knowledge
Verified facts (sponsor-filtered)
- Qiu Family Flat Noodles has passed through four generations; the shop was selling noodles by shoulder pole in the Showa era and is a century-old institution in Miaoli City.
- Yuxing Street in Miaoli City, along with Gongguan, Tongluo, and Toufen, all have clusters of long-established flat noodle shops.
- The Miaoli County Government Tourism Bureau lists Hakka flat rice noodles as a representative Hakka food.
Tips for visiting
- Pure rice noodles are soft and don't hold up well to prolonged cooking — eat promptly after your bowl arrives.
- Most flat noodle shops are cash only; bring small bills for a smoother experience.
- The Yuxing Street old shops see their peak queue in the morning, even more so on weekends.
Information compiled from the Miaoli County Government Tourism Bureau, township and district farmers' associations, and large-scale public reviews; sponsored listings have been excluded. Photos to be replaced with channel-exclusive footage after Dio's on-site shoot.