Noodle

For other uses, see Noodle (disambiguation).

Noodle-drying rack in Seoul

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 may be 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 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.

Types of noodles by primary ingredient

Wide, uncooked egg noodles.

Egg

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

• Asian egg noodles, also known as 'mie telor' in Indonesian, '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)
• 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, soun or suun in Indonesian, wun sen (วุ้นเส้น) in Thai.

Potato or canna starch

• Cellophane noodles can also be made from potato starch or canna starch or various starches of the same genre.

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.

• 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 phở, beef noodle soup, ramen, laksa, saimin and batchoy, and chicken noodle soup.

Other Uses

• "Noodle" is a slang term for the mind or brain, as in the expression "use your noodle".
• As an adjective, the word "noodle" can be combined with a body part in order to emphasize the narrowness or literal noodle-like size of such body part, often in a mocking sense. For example, "This credenza desk is very heavy. You won't be able to pick it up with those noodle-arms."

See also

• Phở
• 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.