Vermicelli Noodles

Same name, different noodles

“Vermicelli” — Italian for “little worms” — is the name applied to several unrelated thin noodles around the world:

• Italian vermicelli — wheat pasta slightly thicker than spaghetti.
• Rice vermicelli (bun, bee hoon, mai fun) — fine white noodles made from rice flour, common across Vietnam, Thailand, China, and Singapore.
• Cellophane noodles (fensi, sotanghon) — translucent strands made from mung bean starch.
• Sevai / sev / shemai — South Asian wheat or rice vermicelli used in sweet puddings and breakfast dishes.

Rice vermicelli in Asian cooking

The most globally common form: dried thin white strands sold in coiled sheets. They’re soaked in hot water for a few minutes, drained, then served:

• Vietnamese bun cha — vermicelli with grilled pork, herbs, and nuoc cham.
• Singapore noodles — stir-fried with curry powder, shrimp, and char siu.
• Pho’s distant cousin — used in summer rolls (goi cuon).

In sweet dishes

In South Asia, fine wheat vermicelli (seviyan) cooks down with milk, sugar, cardamom, and saffron to make kheer — a creamy dessert eaten across India and Pakistan, especially during Eid.

Thinner than capellini?

Italian vermicelli is in fact slightly thicker than spaghetti in southern Italian usage; the name suggests “thin” but locally refers to a specific gauge. The thinnest Italian pasta is capellini (“little hairs”) or capelli d’angelo (angel hair).