The noodles are pasta shaped strips of dough for cut or extruded. They are made with durum wheat flour or wheat.
The term is borrowed before 17,671 at the German Nudel, “pasta” (singular), itself of uncertain origin (perhaps from Latin nodus). In German, it is attested by 1550, and is borrowed by the English in 1779 to give noodle. The French term is written noudle nudeln or around 1765, then noodles, plural, by 1767. It then designates a specific variety of pasta, but colloquial language sometimes tends to use it to mean any type of pasta, with the exception of pasta soup (although this is uncertain for Asian soups).

The noodles are one of the main staple foods in Asia, particularly those based instant kansui often flavored. Most often made of a paste of wheat or rice, they are sometimes still stretched by hand in China, even as some bakers knead bread dough.

In October 2005, scientists from the Academy of Sciences in Beijing found on the banks of the Yellow River in north-west China, the world’s oldest noodles, dating back 4000 years. These noodles were made from millet.

The noodles were imported into Italy, where variants are known as spaghetti. Other kinds of foods made from wheat dough, known in Europe under Italian names, are from China. Such as jiaozi, which are the source of ravioli. The name was then derived for pasta in a smaller format in the Drome: the ravioli.

The appearance of the noodles in Asia dates back over 2000 years the Chinese were eating the two centuries before our era. In the northern part of China, we eat mostly wheat noodles because the cultivation of this cereal is widespread, whereas in the South are consumed instead of rice noodles. Even today, the noodles remain an essential component of Asian cuisine.

Most Asian noodles are elongated, they symbolize longevity, only the thickness and width vary. They are usually grouped according to their ingredients: well, there are wheat noodles, rice noodles, noodles made from mung bean flour and buckwheat noodles.

Chinese wheat noodles are yellow or white and are usually made of wheat flour, water and salt. They sometimes add eggs and are the wheat egg noodles that can be purchased fresh or dried. Fresh, they are cooked at full boil 2 to 4 minutes, being careful to untangle the range before dipping them in boiling water. Wheat noodles with fresh eggs frozen must be thawed before cooking. The dried egg noodles used in the preparation of chow mein, before they are cooked in boiling water, then they are fried, which gives them their characteristic crispness.

In Japan, it includes wheat noodles (or sometimes corn) according to size, they are called Somen (thin noodles) or udon (thick noodles).

The rice noodles are made from rice flour and water and come in various aspects, brittle thin noodles (rice vermicelli), or wide ribbons, among others. They are primarily used in soups or fried. We must soak them twenty minutes in cold or warm water before cooking in boiling water or wok. The rice noodles are often fried in peanut oil between 190 and 200 ° C (375-400 ° F), where they bask and swell to form a nest that is used to trim some delicious dishes including Mee Krob Thai.

The noodles made from mung bean flour are usually transparent and available in packs of 100 g. They must be soaked in warm water or warm about 10 min before being added to a preparation, except soup. They absorb a significant amount of liquid during cooking.

The buckwheat noodles and wheat are widespread in Japan where they are called soba, and are usually yellow-brown or gray and are available fresh or dried. They sometimes add green tea (chasoba) or beets to color them. Soaking prior to cooking is superfluous; these noodles are cooked to a rolling boil until desired tenderness. In summer, they are often served cold with a soy sauce, they also incorporates soups.

Wonton pasta is very thin sheets of dough made from wheat, water, egg and salt, which will be stuffed with meat, fish, seafood or vegetables. Stuffed, they are the Oriental version of Italian ravioli and are available fresh or frozen.