Noodles
To add: Soba, Ramen, Soumen, Naengmyeon
Acorn Noodles / Korea 'Dotori-naengmyeon' or 'Dotori-guksu' / Japan 'Donguri-men'
Acorns used to be a staple dietary component around the world - but has died away except in Korea which took up the practice again during the war when resources were low...
Two types of Acorn Noodle in Korea:
'naengmyeon-dotori' - acorn noodles made from acorn starch - combined with another flour and salt etc - high elasticity and chewy consistency
'dotori-guksu' - acorn noodles made from acorn flour - plus combination of grain flours, i.e., buckwheat, corn & salt - thick as spaghetti
Acorn noodles are slightly nuttier than normal noodles and may be adaptogenic (anti-cancerous)
Acorn starch is often mis-translated in Korean goods abroad...Acorn starch often labelled as acorn flour or powder. Acorn starch is highly-refined flour without fibre or nutrition. Acorn oil is extracted from acorns and is comparable in flavour and quality to Olive Oil.
Acorn noodles are easier to find in big Korean markets.
Donguri-men - Acorn soba noodles are harder to find even in Japanese food shops.
Italy 'Spaghetti'
Made from Semolina or Durum Wheat and water...
Possibly introduced by Muslims living in 12th Century in Southern Italy who had traded with China. Pre-spaghetti Italy cooked gnocchi-like dumplings, prepared and cooked fresh. The Muslims learned how to work the local grain into long thin forms ...
Small 'spago' (=thin string or twine) - spaghetti... (=small lines)
Spaghettini = thin spaghetti
Spaghettoni = thick spaghetti
Spain 'Fideo'
Usually refers to any noodle of any type
Mexico 'Fideo'
Refers to a thin vermicelli-like noodle.
Italy 'Vermicelli'
Made from Durum Wheat. Thinner than Spaghetti and Spaghettini.
Vermicelli = small worms
Vermicelloni = thick vermicelli - still thinner than spaghettini and about the same size as fedelini.
Middle East 'Vermicelli'
Arabic = she'reya (شعريه)
Farsi - reshteh (faloodeh - noodles gelled with cornstarch, rose water, lime juice and ground pistachios.)
South Asia 'Vermicelli'
Made from Semolina. (different from Italian Vermicelli above)
Bengali = shemai (সেমাই)
Hindi/Urdu = seviyan
Gujarati = sev
Kannada = shavige
Telugu = sevalu or semiya
Tamil = semiya
Mandarin = mian xian = probably the root of all the above words
East Asia 'Rice Vermicelli'
Usually refers to rice noodles 米粉 popular in China - goes white when cooked.
Hokkien = bee hoon (rice flour)
Cantonese = mai fun (rice flour)
China, Guilin = 桂林米粉 = Guilin mǐfěn - thicker variety - Guilin is home to the longest ever rice noodle = 300m - 350kg of rice - took 8 hours to make
China, Yunnan = 米线 = mǐ xiàn = rice + noodle - sold fresh not dried (most famous Yunnan dish 过桥米线 (across the bridge noodles)
mǐ xiàn involves a fermenting process - thus is unique - comes in two types: ganjiang mi xian and suanjiang mi xian
Burmese = kyar-zun (rice flour? no 'f' sound in Burmese)
Vietnamese = bún (flour)
Malaysia = bihun (rice flour)
Philippines = bihon (rice flour)
Tagalog = bihon or bijon (rice flour)
Tamil Nadu = santhakai
Tamil = சேவை (sevai)
South India = sevai
Thailand = เส้นหมี่ (sen mee)
Vietnamese 'Bánh Phở' - Rice Sticks - Chantaboon
Main ingredient of Bánh Phở soups.
China 'Silver Needle Noodles' - 'Yin Zhen Fen' - 'Lao Shu Fen' - 老鼠粉
Known as Rat Noodles in Malaysia and Singapore - because noodles taper off like rat's tails...
Silver Needle in Hong Kong and Taiwan...
Shorter tapered noodles about 5cm long .. 5mm thick...
Made from Rice flour and cornstarch to prevent breaking...made commercially because too tedious to make at home in small batches...
China 'Lai Fun'
even shorter than Silver Needles - not tapered.
South India 'Idiyappam' - String Hoppers
In Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Sri Lanka - Idiy.appam (Idiy = string)
In Mayalayam = noolappam or noolputtu - (nool =string)
Made from rice flour, salt and hot water, and ghee. The ingredients are kneaded into a dough. The dough is then pressed through a sieve onto banana leaves or directly into a steamer and steamed for 5-10 minutes. Often a little coconut has been added to improve the flavour.
East Asia 'Mung Bean Vermicelli' / 'Cellophane Noodles' / 'Bean Noodles' / 'Glass Noodles'
Vermicelli also refers to mung bean vermicelli common in Chinese cooking - goes translucent when cooked
Cellophane Noodles also refer to noodles made from starch .. Mung Bean, Yam, Potato, Cassava or Canna starchs...
fěn sī (粉絲): with fěn meaning "powder" and sī meaning "thread" (Mandarin) = fan2 si1 (粉絲) (Cantonese)
dōng fěn (冬粉): with the literal meaning of "winter powder"
xì fěn (細粉; literally "slender powder") (Mandarin) = saifun (Cantonese)
Indonesia = soun or suun
Malaysia = tanghoon (from 'dong fen'?)
Philippines = sotanghon (from 'dong fen'?)
Japan = 春雨 = harusame = 'spring rain' - usually made from potato starch
Korea = dangmyeon = 당면 = 唐麵 = Tang Noodles - usually made from sweet potato starch - browner in colour.
Pakistan = saewiyan (also used in falooda a dessert like Iranian faloodeh)
Vietnam = bún tàu or bún tào - made from Mung bean starch - introduced by Chinese immigrants.
Vietnam = miến - made from canna starch (dong riềng) - developed in Vietnam - main ingredient in miến gà, miến lươn, miến măng vịt, and miến cua.
often confused with bún (rice noodles)
Vietnam = bột hoàng tinh or bột mì tinh = arrowroot starch noodles
Thailand = woon sen (วุ้นเส้น) often stir-fried in pad woon sen (ผัดวุ้นเส้น)
Hawaii = long rice - noodles made from removing starch through a 'potato ricer'
China 'Cu Mian'
Thick wheat noodles.
One well known is Shanghai Cu Mian 上海粗麵
Found in North China and Hong Kong...
Japan 'Udon' - 饂飩 - Korea 'udong' (우동)
A thick wheat flour noodle - often sold fresh and not dried.
May have originated from Cu Mian (above) - but originally Udon were flat and 2-3cm in diameter and added to miso-based soups.
The Japanese characters for Udon 饂飩 in Chinese read as wonton dumpings NOT noodles (but this compares with pasta that can be noodles or shaped).
The noodles are called 烏冬 wūdōng or 烏冬麵 wūdōngmiàn, sometimes 烏龍麵 wūlóngmiàn (not related to Oolong 烏龍 Tea)
Udon were brought back by Buddhist priests from journeys to China in the 9th Century AD.
Akita = Inaniwa (稲庭) udon - thinner version
Mie-ken = Ise (伊勢) udon
Kansai = Kansai (関西) udon - softer and medium thickness
Nagoya = Kishimen (棊子麺, or more commonly きし麺) - flat type
Kagawa Ken = Sanuki (讃岐) udon - thick and stiff
Yamanashi Ken = Hōtō (rarely 餺飥, commonly ほうとう) - flat and wide type - cooked with kabocha pumpkin
Oita Ken = Dangojiru (団子汁) - very thick flat udon
Okinawa = Okinawa soba (沖縄そば) - also called suba - made by adding vegetal ash to flour first.. similar to udon.
East Asia 'Wheat Vermicelli' / 面线
Vermicelli made from wheat instead of rice.
Hokkien = mee sua
Cantonese = min seen
Mandarin = mian xian
Pre-dates spaghetti and may have been imported by Muslim traders in the 12th Century to Italy.