The Martha Stewart Show

Noodle Glossary

The Martha Stewart Show

Martha kicks off our noodle show with a behind-the-scenes look at Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten's new restaurant, Matsugen, and an overview of different types of noodles from chef Takashi Yagihashi of Chicago's Takashi restaurant.

Noodle Glossary

Get the Full Article

Ramen Noodles

Made from wheat flour, egg, and water.
Japan's ultimate comfort food -- equivalent of a cheeseburger, fried chicken, and deep-dish pizza rolled into one.
Chinese immigrants first popularized these hearty wheat noodles in the late-nineteenth century.
The Japanese quickly adopted them, and the first modern ramen shop opened its doors in Japan in 1910.
Ramen is typically a dish you go out to enjoy rather than make yourself.
The different regions of Japan are intensely proud of their local recipes, from the rich, miso-based ramen of the far north to the hearty pork-stock variety famous in the country's south.
You can find fresh-frozen or dried ramen at Japanese markets. Fresh-frozen ramen takes about two to three minutes to cook, while dried takes longer.
Ramen is most often known as the Asian instant-style deep-fried noodles that are usually sold in cellophane packages, sometimes with bits of dehydrated vegetables and broth mix.

Udon Noodles

Flavorful white noodles made from wheat flour and water.
Osaka and southern Japan are the traditional home to udon.
Although udon is a simple food, hundreds of years ago it was considered a dish of nobility, more high-class than soba.
Udon noodles have a silky, smooth texture and are easy to slurp down.
Udon inspire similar devotion in the south that soba does up north, although it's considered a more down-to-earth noodle.
You can buy fresh-frozen, precooked udon at Japanese markets. All you do is quickly heat them in boiling water and they're ready. Dried udon is also available, but take a little longer to cook.
There are two styles of udon -- sanuki, which is like thick spaghetti, and inaniwa, which resembles linguine.

Somen Noodles

Somen are dried extra-thin Japanese noodles made from wheat flour dough with a bit of oil.
Like udon, somen is a noodle with a long history in Japan.
Somen is as thin as angel-hair pasta, which makes it quick and convenient to prepare.
Somen noodles are known to be a summertime dish.
In Japan, somen noodles are eaten chilled.
They are refreshing and light, and you don't have to spend too much time over a hot stove to prepare a somen dish -- the noodles cook in 1 minute.
Chilled somen complements seafood especially well and is great with delicious dipping sauces.
They are sold in beautifully wrapped packages of five to six bundles tied with colorful ribbons.

Rice Noodles

Rice noodles are made with rice flour and water, and are especially popular in Southeast Asia.
Easy to find dried rice noodles in large supermarkets, but you'll probably have to visit an Asian market to find them fresh.
Rice noodles should be pre-soaked in hot water before using in a soup or stir-fry.
They come in a wide variety of styles.
Rice noodles often resemble long, translucent white hairs.
When deep-fried, they explode dramatically into a tangle of airy, crunchy strands.

Soba Noodles

Thin Japanese noodle with a nutty flavor and delicate texture.
Made from either both wheat and buckwheat or just buckwheat.
These are a quick cooking noodle, usually four to six minutes.
Impressively nutritious: high in protein and B vitamins.
Soba is the signature noodle of northeastern region around Tokyo.
To prepare them, hard, grainy buckwheat flour is usually mixed with a little wheat flour to make kneading easier (90/10 is the traditional ratio).
Soba is a beloved noodle in Japan, but one that has two lives: it's a down-home soul food, like ramen, but it also has a more elegant side, elevated to a high art by celebrated soba chefs who prepare it from scratch.
First appeared in Japan around the seventeenth century, when shops and street vendors started hawking them.
Soba began as a humble food, sustenance for priests, laborers, and the lower classes. But before long, aristocrats and lords discovered theses delicious noodles, and elegant soba restaurants opened to serve them.
America got an early taste of soba, when it was featured in the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago.
Soba is a popular food in homes, too. There's a tradition of serving soba on New Year's Eve -- the long noodles symbolize long life.
You can buy fresh-frozen or dried soba noodles in Japanese markets. Frozen soba takes only a minute to cook. Dried soba takes 3 to 4 minutes to cook.

Special Thanks
Special thanks to award-winning chef Takashi Yagihashi for sharing this information. Special thanks to Ten Speed Press for giving copies of his book, "Takashi's Noodles," to our studio audience.

Get the Full Article

The Martha Stewart Show

Noodle Glossary

Related Videos 23 Videos