THE noodle may have come from China but it has taken over the world.
Every country has its own version of the humble noodle but it was the Italians who fell in love with it and created pasta.
People love the amazing variety of shapes and styles of noodles that can be added to almost any food – and they are affordable.
Fresh noodles are made of starch which has nutritional value. However, there is a problem when two-minute noodles or ramen enter the picture – and it’s not a problem with the ramen but the foil flavour packet. Those little sachets are excessively filled with sodium, both table salt and the flavour-boosting monosodium glutamate.
Noodles are traditionally made by rolling flat, unleavened dough and cutting it into different shapes. Each shape corresponds to a style of noodle but the most common are the long, string noodles or spaghetti.
Ramen noodles
While there are about 350 different types of pasta around the world and each type has roughly four different names, ramen needs its own special mention.
Most famous for being amazingly affordable, ramen is a base of many popular dishes all over the world – even at upmarket ramen restaurants.
The most common version of ramen is udon. These thick Japanese noodles are made from wheat flour and water.
Soba ramen is made with buckwheat flour which gives it a nutty taste and brown colour.
Chinese egg noodles are made with wheat flour and egg. Rice noodles don’t have gluten to glue them together and so are fragile.
History of the noodle
According to The Atlantic, the noodle is first recorded in a third century Chinese dictionary.
In 2002, archaeologists along the Yellow River in China found an earthenware bowl containing well preserved 4 000-year-old noodles.
The next appearance of noodles was traced to the Jerusalem Talmud of the fifth century where it was named itrium. By the ninth century, noodles had spread all over Mediterranean Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. The word noodle comes from the German word nudel.
Facts about noodles
- Noodles do not contain sugar
- They lower cholesterol
- They encourage healthy bowel function
Noodles contain protein and carbohydrates, iron, thiamin and riboflavin.