Shahefen, also known as Shahefen, is called kway teow in Singapore (in Fujian dialect, local English is called "KUE TEO" by pronunciation, which is common in China, Guangdong and Southeast Asia). It originated from Guangzhou Shahe around 186, hence its name.

Source 1

At the end of the Qing Dynasty, there was a "Yiheju" snack bar in sha he, located in the northern suburb of Guangzhou. The owner was Hakka Fan Axiang and his wife. They are kind and hard-working. They get up early every day, sell rice congee fried dough sticks in the morning, and sell regular meals in the middle and late. Their lives are fairly stable. One morning, an old man in rags appeared at the door of the shop and fell weakly on the bluestone in front of the door. A Xiang couldn't help feeling pity, and quickly asked his wife to send a bowl of hot porridge to the old man. The old man said that he couldn't eat for nothing. A Xiang said, "Although our shop is small, this rice congee is free for the old man, so you can rest assured to eat!" Unexpectedly, from then on, the old man came to the store to eat rice congee almost every day. Mr. and Mrs. A Xiang didn't abandon him, and they always treated the old man warmly.

One day not long after, A Xiang fell ill and became bedridden. At noon that day, the old man appeared in the shop again. When he learned about A Xiang's illness, he said, "It's hard to get rice in A Xiang, so it's hard to recover. He is a kind-hearted man. Let me make a bowl of delicious food to give him an appetizer today! " When the old man finished speaking, he soaked the rice in the clear spring water of Baiyun Mountain, then skillfully ground the rice slurry and boiled the water, then scooped the rice slurry into the bamboo plaque and spread it on a thin layer before steaming. After a while, the rice paste turned into vermicelli. The old man peeled the skin and cut it into strips, added onion salt sesame oil, and sent it to A Xiang's bed after frying. A Xiang smelled the special fragrance, and his appetite was greatly increased. After several bowls, his condition really improved. He thanked the old man again and again, and finally knew the origin of the old man.

It turns out that the old man turned out to be the royal chef in the palace. Only because of his personality, honest and frank offended Empress Dowager Cixi, he escaped from the capital by luck, and since then he has been hiding and searching everywhere. The old man said, "This powder comes from Shahe, so call it Shahe powder! I've been here for a long time, and I'm afraid I'll bring trouble to my host's family if I don't leave! " Say that finish and left. Since then, Yiheju began to sell Shahe powder, and soon became famous and prosperous.

Source 2

Legend has it that a couple of newly married couples from Dongjiang Hakka lived in Shahe, Guangzhou. During the day, they did farm work, went up the mountain to cut wood and dig herbs, and steamed some rice cakes with thick rice slurry every polder day. One day, the market was particularly prosperous, and all the rice cakes were sold out. It happened that her husband brought many guests. In a hurry, the bride saw that there was a small amount of thin rice paste in the earthen basin of the stone mill. She knew that she had to hurry to cook, and the rice cake could not be steamed. She used her quick wits to pour the rice paste on the dustpan and put it into the pot for steaming. After steaming, she cut it into strips, and served it with parsley and spices for the guests to eat. The guests repeatedly cheered. So I continued to try it the next day, and this "new product" turned out to be an exclusive food, attracting customers like a cloud, and the business was getting more and more prosperous. But diners didn't know what this white, transparent, tough, smooth and delicious food was called and how it was made, so someone went to ask the bride, and the ingenious bride said, "It's called' Shahefen' if it is steamed from the thin rice slurry made of Baiyun Mountain Spring and rice in Shahe!" So "Shahefen" was called away.

Source III

More than 1 years ago, some Dongjiang Hakkas came to Shahe, Guangzhou for a living from the eastern part of Guangdong Province. Every family of these Hakkas who beat stones had a stone mill made by themselves. They used the stone mill to grind rice into powder, mixed it with spring water from Baiyun Mountain, and steamed out thin, tough and smooth water sticks. Hakka people have always called this kind of food "water hairpin" since ancient times. They have opened many couples' shops in the area of Xudi Street (now Shahe Street) that deal in water hairpin. Because the water hairpin is cheap and good, everyone loves it, and the business is booming. With the passage of time, the small shop has developed into a workshop, and the production technology of water hairpin is becoming more and more sophisticated, and the reputation of water hairpin is getting bigger and bigger, spreading farther and farther. Because water is made from the spring water from Baiyun Mountain mixed with rice flour, at that time, there was only such a special food in Shahe area of Guangzhou, so people naturally called it "Shahe Powder", or "Shanshui River Powder", also referred to as "River Powder".

The above legends and stories are different, but they all say that Hefen originated from Hakkas, which seems to be highly credible. Hakka people have always called this kind of food "rice noodles" or "rice noodles", and in today's Hakka villages in eastern Guangdong, they have always followed the traditional custom that every household must steam rice noodles on holidays, and one steaming is a bucket or even several buckets of rice. During the festival days, for several days in a row, we all ate water sticks, or wrapped vegetables, or dipped in sauce, or fried sticks, or soup sticks ... There are various cooking methods. When you visit your relatives, you will carry the whole rubbing reed or pick the whole thin reed, and some of them will be colored to make your appetite open and you will never get tired of eating it.