The latest food trend in China seems like a snapshot from the future, with chefs being replaced by robots. The "NoodleBot," noodle slicing robot is currently all the rage in China. It can slice up to 150 pieces of noodles per minute, which makes them 3 times more efficient than a human.
The "NoodleBot" sells for around $2,300 and was invented by a farmer-turned restaurateur, Cui Runquan.
Cui Runquan said to Beijing TV, "I invented this because I want to free all sliced-noodle chefs from hard labor ... From the moment I first got the idea, it took me three months to create the first Chef Cui."
Cui said that the design of the robot resembles Ultraman which is a character from a Japanese children's sci-fi show. He stated that his son helped design the head of the robot.
These noodle robots create dao xiao mian noodles which means "knife cut noodles" and is a popular dish around China.
To prepare the noodles the chef holds a chunk of dough and uses the knife to slice of pieces of noodle into a pot of boiling water. The
"NoodleBot" makes this an easy and fast process and now factories around China are producing similar prototypes.
Other versions include popular cartoon characters such as "Pinocchio," "Pleasant Goat" and "Pigsy."
The robots can help restaurants save money on labor and decreases hygiene risks. Duan Wanhu, manager of Tianxiang Food Machinery Factory, which is one of the robot manufacturuers, said to CNN, "There is also the hygiene issue," added Duan. "Human chefs sweat in summer, and the sweat goes into the noodles. Robots don't."
Duan added plans of adding noodle-pulling robots to their repertoire by the end of next year.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
