Vermicelli is made from potato starch and corn starch. Or made from sweet potato flour. Very delicious, vermicelli is an indispensable part of winter dishes in Northeast China. But there is a big difference between genuine and fake vermicelli. How to distinguish real and fake vermicelli is very important.

1. Observe the color of the vermicelli. Real sweet potato vermicelli should be translucent dark cyan or slightly yellow. The more transparent the better.

2. Are there any gnocchi? It is difficult for real sweet potato starch to be mixed evenly with water, while other starches seep water evenly, making it difficult for vermicelli to have lumps.

3. Real sweet potato vermicelli will have different thicknesses. Because the water penetration of sweet potato flour is uneven, the vermicelli produced can be thick or thin. Vermicelli made from other starches are even in thickness.

4. Real sweet potato vermicelli is easy to break. Sweet potato flour itself has no toughness. Even in humid weather, the vermicelli will break as soon as you break it. Vermicelli made from other flours are tough and not easy to break because they are mixed with gelatin.

5. Real sweet potato vermicelli has no taste. Fake vermicelli has a special smell of ink because of the addition of dye or ink.

6. Real sweet potato vermicelli is easier to break, while vermicelli made from other flours are more tough.

7. If you carry a lighter with you, the real sweet potato vermicelli will expand a bit after burning and will neither become a hard ball nor completely turn into powder.

Go to regular specialty stores or large supermarkets to buy affordable vermicelli. Observe it in the above way. Buy less and test first. After confirming that they are authentic vermicelli, you can ensure the quality by buying them in bulk.