by Betsy Young

Created on: March 18, 2008   Last Updated: August 04, 2011

A guide to Asian noodles is the work of a lifetime. Here I offer a brief glimpse of the enchanted noodle. Sometimes a superstar, sometimes a workhorse the noodle has made a place for itself over the last four thousand plus years. The noodle arrives early for breakfast and goes to bed as a late night snack. It acts as a staple fortifier from the base of the Urals to the Pacific islands.

Pelmini is a gift of stuffed sour dough noodles from the Komi-Permyaks of the Kana River region at the base of the Ural Mountains in Siberia. A mixture of wheat, eggs and whey allowed to ferment for two to three days before it is rolled out and filled with chopped meats and vegetables. Similar to steamed dumplings popular all over Asia, Pelmini is served in brothy soup or as a main dish.

The Indus Valley region including Pakistan and Gujarat serves a traditional wheat noodle that is boiled, topped with ghee and sugar for a sumptuous breakfast treat much as westerners would have oatmeal or grits. But the most popular noodle in India is the Sev. Crispy fried noodles made from chickpea flour. They are eaten like potato chips. This tasty snack is served plain, sprinkled with spices or as the base for snack mixes with dried fruits and nuts.

In Indonesia a wide range of noodles are used. Bean threads and rice sticks among others but my favorite is a wheat based egg noodle used to make Bami Goreng. The noodles are cooked in boiling water and then set aside. Now the magic begins as various meats, tofu or seafood hit the wok, then vegetables. The noodles are added at the very end just long enough to warm them up. Then they are topped with sauces and spices which vary greatly. The one consistent factor is that Bami will set you ablaze so have a fire extinguisher ready.

There must be over a thousand types of noodles in China using flour or starch from every vegetable known to man. One of the most unique is the soup inside the noodle or Shanghai soup dumplings (xiao long bao). When the dumpling is made it is stuffed with soup broth in gelatinous form along with meats or seafood then steamed. Egg noodles are popular in Shanghai and in their largest form are used as egg roll wrappers. Bean thread or cellophane noodles with their springy consistency are found often in northern fare. Plenty of rice sticks are used in Cantonese soups and stir fries. Thentuk a homemade, hand pulled hearty wheat flour noodle of Tibet is used to fortify soups and stews.

In Korea noodles are served with meats and

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