The story
Crossing-the-bridge noodles come from Mengzi, in southern Yunnan, a city known for its South Lake. Legend says that more than a century ago a scholar named Yang studied for the imperial exams in a pavilion on an island in the lake, and his wife carried his meals across a small bridge. Finding the food went cold on the way, she noticed that a layer of chicken fat sealed the heat into the broth, so she brought the scalding soup separately and added thin slices of meat, vegetables and rice noodles only on arrival, where they cooked in moments. Yunnan cooks refined the dish, and it is now served across China.
Rival claims
The origin story is a legend, but Mengzi is consistently named as the birthplace.
Also known as 过桥米线, guoqiao mixian, over the bridge rice noodles, Yunnan rice noodle soup.
On the Meridish menu
Crossing-the-bridge noodles was the soup course on menu No. 23 on October 23, 2026. Its clue in the game, which hints at the place without naming it:
Raw meat and rice noodles are slid into scalding chicken broth at the table. A wife kept the soup hot under a layer of fat for her scholar husband across a lake bridge.
In Meridish, every dish is pinned to the town or city most widely credited with creating it. A guess within 25 km scores all 100 points. How scoring works.
Sources
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mixian_(noodle)
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mengzi_City
- wildchina.com/2013/08/crossing-the-bridge-noodles
Food history is often disputed. Think we've pinned it in the wrong place? Tell us at hello@meridish.com, ideally with a source.
