A difficult term. It has two main current meanings in English. First, it denotes certain types of occidental pasta, especially those which are in the form of narrow strips and are served in soups (cf. OED). This meaning has a tendency to be expanded in respect of E. European pasta. Secondly, it refers to most of the numerous kinds of Asian pasta.
Usage in other languages differs somewhat. Thus the French term nouilles is used in a more general way than the English ‘noodles’ in the first sense; but it may refer specifically to the Alsatian dish known as nouilles (tagliatelle). The German Nudeln denotes any kind of pasta served as a dish in its own right, but also has the English meaning of ‘noodles’ when served as a soup ingredient.
Noodles are of major importance in many Asian countries, but attain their fullest glory in the cuisines of China and Japan. As will be apparent in these entries Asian noodles can be categorized according to their major ingredient: wheat-flour noodles; rice-flour noodles; and the vegetable starch group, including bean and pea starch, potato starch, and cornstarch noodles. There are, naturally, many different sorts within these three categories (see the sections that follow).
As with pasta in Europe, the history of noodles in the Orient is difficult to establish with precision. Under the heading ‘Noodles of China’ there is much relevant information. However, it is necessary to add that the best source of information on this subject is now the relevant part of Les pâtes by Silvano Serventi and Françoise Sabban (2000), an important new reference work.
These (including those of China and Japan, dealt with on pages 536 and 538) present an interesting pattern.
One salient point is the relative lack of noodles in the Indian subcontinent. It is hard to explain this on a simple basis such as lack of suitable cereal crops in the subcontinent, since noodles can be made from so many different and basic ingredients. The phenomenon seems to be more of a historical one. It may be that the kitchen territory which might have been occupied by noodles of certain kinds was already devoted to dishes in the dal category. There is, however, one kind of Indian noodle which has achieved a moderate degree of prominence; see sev, seviyan.
Looking northwards at the huge arc of territory which extends from China and Mongolia in the East all the way to Iran and the countries of the Middle East, there are two aspects which deserve comment. One is that, again, there are large areas where noodles are of minor importance—Iran itself and the Arab countries at the eastern end of the Mediterranean. This is something of a mystery, since there are grounds for believing that noodles may have begun in what is now Iran (Perry, 1981), and they were certainly of importance in medieval Arab cookery. It seems possible that what happened was that pilaf in Iranian territory and couscous in N. Africa gradually encroached on the role played by noodles in ancient times. In fact, the ‘mystery’ can be resolved by postulating gradual changes in area-wide eating patterns.
A further interesting point is that in the noodle-using areas between Mongolia and Turkey there is great emphasis on what would be called filled pasta in western countries, items which are often in practice referred to as dumplings (see dumplings of Asia). A prime example is mantou. Also important in this category are joshpara (with its strong Iranian connection) and pel'meni (familiar in Russia), and it would be true to say that filled pasta has proved less vulnerable to encroachment by pilaf etc. than ordinary noodles.
A simple, perhaps too simple, explanation of the prevalence of mantu etc. could be that the combination of a meat or similar filling and a cereal envelope was convenient for nomadic cultures and more generally for people with very simple cooking facilities. One cooking pot would do, and the filling could be varied according to what was available—e.g. the vegetable filling in the ashak of Afghanistan (like ravioli) stuffed with gandana, which are Chinese chives, or a filling of curd, or whatever.
However, the prevalence in the region of stuffed items has not excluded noodles which resemble vermicelli or have a ribbon shape; see reshteh; laksa, for two examples.
The picture is rather different when one looks at noodles in SE Asia. There, the stuffed noodles are less common and the influence of Chinese noodles of the thin ribbon type, and especially rice noodles, is far more apparent. It is dominant in what used to be called Indo-China. In Laos, khao pun, the national dish, is based on rice vermicelli. In Vietnam rice vermicelli are also prominent (bun, or the ultra-thin kind called banh hoi), and so are the flat thin rice noodles (banh pho), often referred to in English as ‘rice sticks’. Vietnamese also relish the so-called ‘cellophane noodles’ (mien/bun tau, also called ‘bean threads’ in English, because made of mung bean), and egg noodles (mi) are prominent in some areas. The situation in Cambodia is similar but shows a closer relationship with some of the nuances displayed by the food of neighbouring Thailand. In Thailand a strong Chinese influence is evident, particularly in the north, but many of the wares offered by Thai street hawkers (e.g. mi or mee, a term which just means noodles but can also indicate a wonderfully complex dish of noodles with various seafoods—so good that it turns up as mi Siam in Malaysia) represent an evolution away from Chinese originals. This is true also of the noodles of Malaysia and Indonesia; they too reflect a strong Chinese influence, but modified by the impact on their cuisines of influence from the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent, conveyed in the Muslim culture which is dominant in these countries.
Further east, in the Philippines, one finds the greatest and most intriguing mixture of noodle dishes from other cultures.
To round off the survey one could continue eastwards to Hawaii, another outstanding example of mixed culinary cultures.
To understand the history of noodles in China, it is necessary to know something of the history of the various cereals from which noodles can be made, and to realize that, originally and now, Chinese noodles have fallen into two distinct categories.
The earliest cereals used by the Chinese were millet and rice, and the pair were known as mi. They were eaten primarily in the form of grains. However, either flour or starch could be produced from them; these, known as fen, were originally used mainly for cosmetic purposes, but from the 6th century onwards for food preparation, including the making of noodles. When this development occurred, the noodles so made were also called fen, and the term subsequently acquired an even wider meaning, embracing for example mung bean flour and soya bean flour (which provide two of the numerous non-cereal noodles which are popular in China).
Meanwhile, however, barley and wheat had come into use. The collective term for them was mai. These two cereals were not normally eaten as grains but in products made from their flour. Once they had been processed to become flour, they were known as mian. This latter term became familiar later on (from the 12th century) as a general name for noodles, which it still is.
Wheat products were particularly esteemed and favoured when first introduced and were designated by the name bing. This name, which is often met in historical studies of Chinese noodles and the like, used to mean all wheat-flour products; but its meaning has now become restricted to pancakes and similar little round cakes or breads.
It is against this background that one must regard the hierarchy of noodles in China and the fact that those made from rice (in the south) and from wheat (in the north) are always in top place. It is noteworthy in this connection that mian (wheat noodles) can be made easily in the home, whereas fen (rice noodles) are nowadays always manufactured commercially.
Noodles were first popular in the north of China, where the climate favoured those cereal crops which are best adapted to noodle-making. The exact origins of noodles, however, are unclear; certain specialists think that they originated in C. Asia. However, once the concept was introduced to ancient China, it flourished because of its versatility—noodles are easily prepared from a variety of raw materials; they provide cheap and nutritious and filling food; they cook quickly; they may be eaten hot or cold; and in their dried form they may be stored for considerable periods.
It is likely that large-scale commercial production was already well under way in Han China, about ad 100, following the introduction of wheat-milling technology, probably imported from the Middle East. Noodles were first enjoyed by China's rulers, and then, as wheat became more widely available, by ordinary people. They acquired great importance in Chinese culture as they came to symbolize (by their length) longevity. It is for this reason that, in modern China, long noodles are always on the menu of a birthday celebration meal.
The diversity of Chinese noodles lies less in their shape (usually wide like fettucine (see pasta shapes) or narrow like vermicelli) than in the number of food products they are made from, e.g. wheat, rice, beans, tapioca. Other ingredients are often added, particularly in making wheat noodles—e.g. egg, chicken extract, tiny shrimp or crab roe, spinach, lye water (strong alkaline liquid, often rich in potassium carbonate from wood ashes).
The following examples illustrate the numerous varieties and qualities of Chinese noodles:
Throughout China, noodles are now eaten as snacks and meals at almost any time of day. Fresh (wheat) noodles are made at home and both fresh and dried noodles can be purchased in most food stores. They can also be eaten in specialist noodle restaurants. Generally speaking, rice noodles are found in the south, wheat and buckwheat noodles in the north. In Guangdong egg noodles, uncommon elsewhere in China, are particularly popular.
Noodles are normally boiled first. They may subsequently be fried with other ingredients (see chao mian below).
The most usual way of eating noodles in modern China is, as it has long been, in soup. The combination is called tang mian. Small amounts of vegetables, meat, or seafood are usually added to the soup. An interesting version of noodles-plus-soup is guo qiao mian (crossing the bridge noodles), when the diner is given the noodles and the hot soup (with a layer of fat floating on the top which keeps in the heat) in two separate bowls. The origin of the name is the subject of more than one legend. It is said, for example, that in the days of the imperial court, when a bridge divided the emperor's palace from the rest of Beijing, the cook had to walk from the kitchen, which was outside the walls of the Heavenly City, over the bridge and into the palace, carrying a pot of hot water and the noodles. The noodles were dropped into the pot just as the cook reached the bridge. By the time the pot arrived at the emperor's table, the noodles were ready and still hot. However, the true explanation of the name seems to be that the diner makes a ‘bridge’ in passing the noodles from their bowl into the soup bowl.
Another soup-noodles dish is called wo mian, meaning nest noodles—there is usually a poached egg in the centre of the nest of noodles in the soup, and the dish is favoured for convalescents.
Previously boiled noodles are also stir fried with meat and vegetables. The Chinese term is chao mian, from which the English term chow mein comes.
The third common way of serving noodles is on a dish with meat, seafood, or vegetables, with some sort of sauce or dressing poured over the whole. The dish may be hot or cold. There is a popular sauce in Beijing called tianmianjiang, made by a complex process involving two fermentations, which yields a thickish brown product of a sweet and sour nature.
In addition there is the range of wonton dishes. Wonton wrappers or skins, made from wheat flour and egg (sometimes treated with lye water), are thin, pastry-like wrappings, stretched like freshly made noodles, which can be stuffed with minced meat and other fillings and then either poached in bouillon, or (less often) fried. They are usually larger than western filled pasta (of which ravioli are typical).
Menrui is the collective term for noodles in Japan. When a particular type of noodles are referred to, they are called men, which derives from the Chinese word mien or mian.
It is generally accepted that menrui was first introduced into Japan from China during the Nara period (710–94). The original menrui, however, seems to have been more like sweet dumplings than what we call noodles. (These dumplings were called konton, the word whose original meaning is ‘chaos’, presumably because they had no definite shape. This is the same word as the Chinese hun-t'un, now familiar as wonton. Later the name changed from konton to undon, and eventually udon.) It is not known when the transformation from dumplings to noodles took place. In any case, it must have been a gradual process.
In time the custom of eating grain in pasta form spread throughout the country as a means of supplementing or, at times of famine, replacing boiled rice as the staple food. This applied particularly to noodles made of buckwheat, which thrives in a cold climate where rice cannot grow. As for wheat noodles, their popularity may well have been partly due to the fact that the type of wheat produced in Japan, as in Italy, is not suitable for making bread.
Unlike the Chinese, the Japanese have almost never used rice for making noodles, although there is a Japanese term, maifun (the Chinese mi fen), for rice noodles. Plain boiled rice has always been so highly esteemed as a food that the Japanese have had no reason to turn it into anything else. Thus, while noodles have occupied an important place in Japanese diet, they have been mostly eaten in lieu of, or in addition to, boiled rice, never challenging the latter's supremacy. The role of noodles remains basically unchanged; they are popular snacks and light meals.
The Chinese practice of eating noodles on special occasions as a symbol of longevity is also found in Japan. A typical example is the custom of eating soba on New Year's Eve. Until not so long ago people who had moved house would distribute soba to their new neighbours by way of greetings.
There are now five main types of Japanese noodles, with many regional variations. These are as follows, the first two being the most important:
Nowadays noodles are mostly machine made and are sold either fresh, boiled, or dried. (Hiyamugi and somen are always sold dried.) However, some noodle restaurants make a speciality of hand-made noodles, and in rural areas the art of making noodles at home is still alive.
There are two basic ways of serving soba and udon: mori and kake. In mori (literally ‘to pile up’) the boiled noodles are served with a cold dipping sauce (tsukejiru) made of dashi, soy sauce, and mirin. Soba is often served in this way but with small bits of nori (laver dried like paper) sprinkled over it. Then it is called zaru. In kake (literally ‘to pour over’) the noodles are served hot in soup (kakejiru) similar to tsukejiru in a deep bowl. There are many variations on the theme of kake, depending on the toppings added to the noodles—prawn tempura, aburaage (fried bean curd), pieces of chicken, a raw egg, etc.
Kishimen is eaten like udon.
Hiyamugi and somen are very much summer food. They are normally served chilled, often floating in iced water in a large glass bowl, and eaten with dipping sauce. Occasionally somen is eaten hot, in which case it is called nyumen.
Any account of Japanese noodles is hardly complete without a mention of Chinese (or Chinese-style) noodles. It was chiefly after the end of the Second World War that they came to be eaten commonly in Japan, but they have now nearly surpassed the traditional Japanese noodles in popularity—in particular among the younger generations. There are two main types. One is ramen—thin, yellow, sometimes wavy wheat-flour noodles served in soup, with toppings like pieces of ch'a-shiu (Chinese barbecued pork). Instant ramen—fried noodles with a sachet of soup base that can be cooked in a few minutes—is extremely popular among the Japanese. The other type is yakisoba, similar to the chow mein of Chinese restaurants abroad.
Noodles are eaten perhaps more often in restaurants than at home—in urban areas, at any rate. Everywhere there is a restaurant which specializes in noodle dishes and which usually also delivers freshly cooked noodles. In the larger cities noodle stands are commonly found in railway stations, department stores, universities, etc. Ramen vendors who set up their stalls at street corners at night are also a usual feature of city life.
It is remarkable that, alone among Japanese foods, noodles are to be eaten in noisy, slurping fashion.
For products which are not considered by the Japanese to be true noodles, but are noodle-like and apt to be referred to by non-Japanese as noodles, see harusame and shirataki (described under konnyaku).
Katsue Aizawa, a Japanese scholar of food history who has lived and taught in London for many years.
Perry, Charles (1981), ‘The Oldest Mediterranean Noodle’, PPC 9.
Serventi, Silvano and Sabban, Françoise (2000), Les Pâtes, Rome: Actes Sud.
