Rice noodles were traditionally fairly thick, and were known as "water noodles" because they had to be boiled in a big pan of water. Developments in molding technology later made it possible to produce needle-thin noodles, which simply need to be steamed rather than boiled, and these are called "cooking noodles" --from the Taiwanese word for "steaming."
傳統的米粉比較粗，而且因為壓製好了後，要放入大鍋開水中煮熟，所以又叫「水粉」；後來模具工業發達，可以做出孔細如針的模子，業者就此開發了新產品，由於細米粉易熟，只要用蒸籠就可以蒸熟，「蒸」的閩南音為「炊」，所以叫「炊粉」。