Noodles you have known and loved or might like

We're a half Japanese family but apparently my late mother-in-law was a terrible cook so we never inherited any recipes. I do a big bowl of udon or soba noodles in a traditional soup with chicken and vegetables as a very warming winter staple. If we get a very hot day cold zaru-soba, or somen served on ice.

Sorry, folks, about posting twice. I was trying it a third time, and it suddenly showed. I'll ask contact us to get rid of the first one..

If I remember, soba is made with buckwheat. Not sure if it's the same buckwheat - we have a wild one in California that is not the same as the flour you get in packages.
I'll look up zaru-zoba and somen - somen sounds familiar from when I lived in Los Angeles.

Did you ever see the movie, Tompopo?

Odd, it's still not showing up on New Posts for me.

Maybe my old imac needs a nap. (It does show up on My Topics, whew.)

I haven't been to Momofuku. Most of my fun eating is done in another part of town. Maybe I should get together a squad to check it out.

Noodles. hmmm. Mrs. Hamburger always made her own noodles for soup. I preferred dumplings. Apparently the noodles were excellent. Neighbourhood parents always wanted her homemade chicken noodle soup. Chickens raised by friends and plucked at home, carrots/onions grown in the garden, noodles made at home - dried over chair backs in the basement. Homemade soup indeed.

Traditional Chinese hand-pulled noodles (Laiman) are the most awesome in my book. I've seen them made in San Francisco and in China. Noodles for the whole restaurant made in 7 minutes... if you just want to see one batch, skip ahead to 6:00.

Yes soba is made from buckwheat. Zaru-soba are plain chilled soba noodles (served on a zaru basket) with a dipping sauce. Somen are very thin wheat noodles often served on ice also with a dipping sauce .

Tampopo is one of my favourite movies - even though I'm not a big ramen eater. Very clever and very funny.

We had them/saw them made at a place in the old LA chinatown that we used to frequent - probably not there anymore. I remember the cook, his showing us the noodle making, and that the restaurant name started with a C.

I'll look at the video in the morning, will enjoy it.


On Tompopo, I think I saw it twice, loved it both times.

Can noodling remains popular.

I always liked macaroni - you can whistle with them. Lately I like noodles made from quinoa, they're easier to digest. ... along with Wild Planet tuna (the best there is) and some capers, Parmesan ....and I am happy!

Hmm. I've a fat jar of quinoa I've not tried yet (slow to learn), and a Marcato pasta macchina - and there's probably a how-to recipe out there re the pasta.

Another thing I want to try is making buckwheat fettucini - pizzoccheri -
http://ansonmills.com/recipes/394

Here's a good noodle article that may make you hungry. I learned some new information about noodle history while reading it..

http://www.laweekly.com/restaurants/noodlepalooza-a-comprehensive-guide-to-asian-noodles-in-la-4764328

Lots of photos to go with the noodle descriptions; here's one - with tsukemen, which I don't think I've heard of before


Jidaiya's tsukemen
photo by A. Scattergood

text under photo -
Tsukemen
Tsukemen (pronounced TSKEH-men) is a recent innovation of ramen, in which the noodles and condiments are served beside a bowl of even more condensed broth. Imagine deconstructed ramen, with the components dipped, as soba noodles often are, into a bowl of sauce. This modern variation on the wildly popular ramen dish first started showing up in Tokyo noodle shops about five years ago (some sources say the trend first appeared in the 1950s, then reappeared in the '70s and again recently) and has become hugely popular. Served both cold and hot, tsukemen can have as many variations as ramen — and soba — has, which is to say quite a lot.

Go to: Jidaiya. Located, big surprise, in a strip mall off Western in Torrance, Jidaiya specializes in ramen but has added a stellar bowl (or bowls) of tsukemen to the menu. Dunk the lovely, chewy noodles into the insanely rich broth and keep going until you run out. And there's taiyaki for dessert. (AS)

edit to add another of the photos -


Chow fun at Tasty Garden
photo by Christine Chiao

Ho Fun
Flat and semi-translucent, ho fun is often stir-fried as chow fun, tossed vigorously in a wok over incredibly high heat with slices of beef or chicken, copious splashes of soy sauce and at least two types of onion. A rice noodle in origin, ho fun is typically thicker than rice sticks. Mandarin-speaking restaurant owners list its transliteration as he fen more frequently than not. A standard to be shared family-style, these noodles are part of the canon of Cantonese barbecue fare alongside fried rice and chow mein.

Go to: Tasty Garden. You can order the standard beef chow fun here, or you can elevate your order by getting it bifengtang style — that is, piling on a generous garnish of fried garlic. (CC)

I always liked 40 lashes with a wet noodle.

So good for what ails you..

Forgive him, his insane overuse of all things licorice (in his homemade stock).