拉麵
laai1 min6
The English phrase "ramen" is translated into Cantonese as 拉麵 (laai1 min6).
拉麵 refers to the Chinese-Japanese style of soup noodles made from wheat with various ingredients.
Meaning: soup noodles of wheat, with various ingredients (Chinese-Japanese style) (noun)
Which one should you use?
拉麵 specifically refers to the Chinese-Japanese style of pulled wheat noodles. It is distinct from traditional Cantonese rice noodles 河粉 or egg noodles 蛋麵.
How do you pronounce it?
laai1 min6
Did you know?
- The texture of 拉麵 is often described using the word 彈牙, which literally means 'bouncing against the teeth'.
- In Cantonese culture, the length of the noodles in a bowl like 拉麵 is often associated with longevity and long life.
- The characters in 拉麵 literally mean 'pull noodles', which describes the traditional manual technique of stretching the dough into long strands.
Examples in context
- 我想食拉麵。ngo5 soeng2 sik6 laai1 min6.I want to eat ramen.
- 呢碗拉麵好豐富。ni1 wun2 laai1 min6 hou2 fung1 fu3.This bowl of ramen is very rich.
Example conversation
The two friends are deciding what to eat for lunch at a food court.
- 俊傑 Chun Kit曉彤，不如食拉麵啦？hiu2 tung4, bat1 jyu4 sik6 laai1 min6 laa1?Hiu Tung, why don't we eat ramen?
- 曉彤 Hiu Tung好呀，我而家好想食拉麵。hou2 aa3, ngo5 ji4 gaa1 hou2 soeng2 sik6 laai1 min6.Okay, I really want to eat ramen right now.
- 俊傑 Chun Kit我想去嗰間拉麵舖食。ngo5 soeng2 heoi3 go2 gaan1 laai1 min6 pou3 sik6.I want to go eat at that ramen shop.
- 曉彤 Hiu Tung俊傑，我哋即刻行啦。zeon3 kit3, ngo5 dei6 zik1 hak1 haang4 laa1.Chun Kit, let's go right now.
