CELLOPHANE NOODLES

Cellophane noodles (also known as bean threads, bean thread noodles or glass noodles), are a type of clear Asian noodle made from mung bean starch, water, and sometimes also other ingredients including potato starch. In Chinese, they are called 绿豆面 (lǜ dòu miàn; "mung bean noodles"; literally "green bean noodles"), or 粉丝 (fěn sī; fěn meaning "powder" and sī meaning "silk"). They are generally sold in dried form, boiled to reconstitute, then used in soups, stir fried dishes, or spring rolls. They are called "cellophane noodles" because of their resemblance to cellophane, a transparent material.

In China , the primary site of production of cellophane noodles is in the city of Longkou , in the northeastern province of Shandong .

In Korean cuisine, such noodles are called dang myeon (hangul: 당면 ; hanja: 唐麵 ; also spelled dang myun dangmyun, tang myun, or tangmyun). They are most often made from sweet potato starch, and are the main ingredient in a popular dish called japchae.

In Japanese cuisine, they are called harusame, harusame saifun, or harusame sai fun.

Cellophane noodles should not be confused with rice vermicelli, which are made from rice and are white in color rather than clear.

Health concerns
In 2004, it was determined that some Chinese brands of cellophane noodles were contaminated with lead. Several unscrupulous companies, it turned out, were making their noodles from corn starch instead of mung beans in order to save costs, and, to make the corn starch transparent, were adding lead-based whiteners to their noodles.