Why not "Long Bean"?

The other day, I decided that I simply could not live another day without some Hawaiian food, and chose to make Chicken Long Rice. I was introduced to the dish at the Old Lahaina Luau on Maui. I had made it myself only once before, when I had used cellophane noodles, according to this Internet recipe. The chicken is marinated in a delicious, soy/garlic/ginger/sesame oil concoction, and combined with the softened noodles, green onions, mushrooms, and chicken broth. The dish went over fairly well, even with the kids.

I have also recently discovered Mai Fun at a new Chinese Restaurant near the YMCA where I work out (I know: it's somewhat pointless to work out and then stop at a Chinese takeout place on the way home). Mai Fun are rice vermicelli, and very delicious (especially as Singapore Noodles).

According to this Wikipedia entry, Long Rice received its name in reference to the fact that the noodles are extruded (and presumably made from rice).

So, I decided to stop at the Shop&Save, grab the ingredients, and make a quick version of Chicken Long Rice for dinner. Well, first of all, the chicken is supposed to marinade for at least an hour, and I was hoping to shop, prep, cook, and eat within the next 45 minutes. So: bad plan to begin with. I went to the reasonably extensive Asian section (extensive for Chuck City, at least), and damn if I didn't find that they did not carry Cellophane Noodles at all. This put a crimp in my plans. They did have Mai Fun, so I grabbed a pack of those, just in case I couldn't find what was specified on the 3x5 card in my shirt pocket.

I visited three other stores looking for Cellophane Noodles, and finally found them. I looked at the ingredients listed on the package, and noticed they were made from Mung Bean starch. I thought, "that can't be what I need. I need Long Rice, not Long Mung Bean." But I bought them anyway, and went home. At this point, I had been shopping ingredients for well over an hour.

When I got home, I over-thought, and subsequently overruled my recipe and decided to use the Mai Fun, which were actually made from rice. I "power-marinated" the chicken and soaked the noodles simultaneously for 30 minutes, then browned the chicken, added the veggies, noodles and broth, and finished cooking.

The result - really good, but completely wrong. The Long Rice are supposed to be flat, fat, translucent and slippery. The Mai Fun were skinny, round, white, and firm. The texture was all wrong. The taste was a bit different, but not unpleasant in any way.

So, I'm not sure what to call my dish. I will have to revisit the original recipe soon, since I still have the Cellophane Noodles in my pantry. But can someone definitively tell me: which is the "true" Long Rice - Mai Fun or Cellophane Noodles? And if I'm correct, and the answer is "Cellophane Noodles", which aren't made from rice at all, can someone tell me why it is called "Long Rice"?