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A 'noodle' is made from unleavened dough that has been shaped into thin flat strips or round cylinders and cooked in a boiling liquid. Depending upon the type, noodles maybe dried or refrigerated before cooking. The word noodle derives from the German ''Nudel'' (noodle) and maybe related to the Latin word ''nodus'' (knot). In English, noodle is a generic term for unleavened dough made from many different types of ingredients and includes a variety of shapes. While similar, pasta refers specifically to the Italian products such as spaghetti, penne, or fettuccine that contain semolina flour.
The Chinese, Arabs and Italians all claimed to have been the first to create this string-like food, though the first written account of noodles is from the East Han Dynasty between AD 25 and 220. In October 2005, the oldest noodles yet discovered were found at the Lajia site (Qijia culture) along the Yellow River in Qinghai, China. The 4,000-year-old noodles appear to have been made from foxtail millet and broomcorn millet.^[1]

Contents

Types of noodles by primary ingredient

Egg

Wheat

Rice

Mung bean

Potato or canna starch

Buckwheat

Types of noodle dishes

See also

Notes

Types of noodles by primary ingredient

Egg

Egg noodles are usually made of a mixture of egg and wheat flour.

★ Asian egg noodles, also known as ''ba mee'' (บะหมี่) in Thai, are common throughout China and Southeast Asia.

★ Lochshen: wide egg noodles used in Eastern European Jewish cuisine

★ Pasta: Italian can add eggs to the semolina wheat flour

★ Reshteh: Middle Eastern egg noodles

★ Tăiţei: Romanian egg noodles

Wheat

★ Chuka men (中華麺): Japanese for "Chinese noodles", used for ramen, chanpon and yakisoba

★ Lamian (拉麵): hand pulled Chinese noodles

★ Mee pok (麪薄): flat, yellow Chinese noodles, popular in Southeast Asia

★ Somen (そうめん): very thin Japanese wheat noodles

★ Udon (うどん): thick Japanese wheat noodles

Rice

★ Flat rice noodles, also known as ''héfěn'' or ''ho fun'' (河粉), ''kway teow'' or ''sen yai'' (เส้นใหญ่)

★ mai fun in Chinese cuisine, lightly fried and added to chicken salad, etc.

★ Rice vermicelli: thin rice noodles, also known as ''mǐfěn'' or ''bee hoon'' (米粉) or ''sen mee'' (เส้นหมี่)

Mung bean

★ Cellophane noodles, also known as glass noodles, or bean vermicelli. ''fěnsī'' (粉絲) in Chinese, ''harusame''(春雨) in Japanese, ''wun sen'' (วุ้นเส้น) in Thai.

Potato or canna starch

★ Cellophane noodles can also be made from potato starch or canna starch

Buckwheat

★ Naengmyeon: Korean noodles made of buckwheat and sweet potato starch. Slightly chewier than soba.

★ Soba (蕎麦): Japanese buckwheat noodles

Types of noodle dishes

★ Basic noodles: These are cooked in water or broth, then drained. Other foods can be added (for example a pasta sauce ) or the noodles are added to other foods (see fried noodles or lasagna) or the noodles can be served plain with a dipping sauce or oil to be added at the table. In general, noodles are soft and absorb flavors.

★ Chilled noodles: noodles are sometimes served in a salad. An example is the Thai glass noodle salad ''yam woon sen''. In Japan, traditional Japanese noodles such as soba and somen are often served chilled with a dipping sauce. Some western dishes like pasta salads also call for cold noodles, but these are cooked, and then allowed to sit or are chilled before serving.

★ Fried noodles: dishes made of noodles stir fried with various meats, seafood or vegetables. Typical examples include chow mein, lo mein, mee goreng, hokkien mee, some varieties of pancit, yakisoba and pad thai.

★ Noodle soup: noodles served in broth. Examples are beef noodle soup, phở, ramen, laksa, saimin and batchoy, and chicken noodle soup.

See also

★ Chinese noodles

★ Cup noodles/Pot Noodle

★ Frozen noodles

★ Instant noodles

★ Japanese noodles

★ Spätzle: Southern German noodles with egg

★ Reshteh: Middle Eastern fresh egg noodle

★ Wai-Wai: Noodles popular in South Asia.

Notes

1. "Oldest noodles unearthed in China", BBC News, 12 October 2005.