EATING HEALTHY

Noddles' Pandemic Culture Has Ancient Beginnings
ROBIN ASBELL


EXOTIC SPICY NOODLES. Elegant tender pasta. Macaroni and cheese from a box.
From expensive restaurants serving artisanal squid ink cappellini to starving students living on ramen, the noodle travels across all class and cultural lines. Sharing only the common process of being made from plant starches, noodles and pastas take on a limitless variety of forms. If one set one's mind to it, a lifetime of noodle dishes could be eaten without a single repeat.
The idea of fresh or dried flour or starch based shapes seems to have permeated every cuisine of the world. The debate over who invented it is an old one; you have probably already heard the story of Marco Polo bringing pasta to Italy after seeing it in China. Believe it or not, there is a museum devoted to nothing but the history of pasta–The Museum of Pasta Foods in Rome. According to their research, the first recorded mentions of pasta in Italy pre-date Marco Polo’s visit. In fact, in their interpretations, Marco Polo’s writings refer to seeing noodles in China that were similar to those back home. Pasta and noodles go back so far that nobody has any record of their invention.
Dried noodles certainly made sense as a means of preserving valuable food. Wheat and other grain cultivation is often seen as the force that created civilization as we know it, as it allowed nomadic hunter-gatherers to create settled communities. Harvesting and storing grain was crucial, and pests and spoilage could wipe out the winter food supply. Making a paste of ground grain and water and then drying it for later reconstitution was a smart way to stay alive. The quick cooking rice starch noodles across Asia attest also to an enduring need for cheap food that requires little cooking fuel.
The pastas of Italy, noodles of Asia, fideo of Mexico, spaetzle of Germany, and dumplings, gnocchi, and noodles from Europe all share their basic simplicity and little else. Water and flour or starch and some other optional ingredients, rolled or extruded to form sheets, strings, curlicues, or freeform dollops are all noodles. Give a simple idea like that to all the cuisines of the world, and each will interpret it in radically different ways.
In India, the most popular use for vermicelli (called “seviya”) is in dessert puddings, and sweet noodle kugels from northern Europe also take a dessert spin on pasta. Garbanzo bean flour is used in India to make sev noodles, which are boiled or deep fried for a crispy snack. Rice starch noodles can also be fried to make crispy clouds to serve with Thai food, and rice sheets wrap spring rolls filled with more noodles. Bean thread or glass noodles are made from bean starch in Thailand and Viet Nam. Japanese Soba noodles can be made from buckwheat flour or white flour, and are found dried or fresh. Egg noodles are a tradition in China, but they are long, thin, and curly, unlike the northern European style egg noodles we see in chicken soup or as a foundation in hotdish. Eggroll, wonton, and gyoza wrappers are simply sheets of fresh egg pasta. I’ve even found fresh tofu noodles at Chinese groceries.
So go ahead and try to eat every noodle or pasta dish once. I guarantee you will have to give most of them more than one visit.

Pizzocheri
Italian pastas are usually refined flour, but early traditions used whole grains as well. Italian buckwheat pasta is hard to find, but natural foods stores carry buckwheat soba. For a heart healthy version, use extra virgin olive oil instead of butter.

1 8-ounce package Italian buckwheat pasta or soba noodles
3 medium potatoes, sliced thinly and cut in strips
1/2 head savoy cabbage, chopped
1/4 pound green bean, sliced into one-inch lengths
1/4 cup butter
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 whole sage leaves, chopped
1/4 pound fontina cheese, sliced
3/4 cup asiago cheese, shredded

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Chop cabbage and green beans, chop potatoes and reserve. Melt butter in a large sauté pan and cook cabbage and green beans with garlic and sage. When tender and golden, take off heat. Cook potatoes and pasta together, drain, mix with cabbage mixture and salt and pepper to taste.
Butter the bottom and sides of a shallow baking dish, and put half the noodle mixture, top with half the cheeses, then layer on the remaining noodles, and top with the remaining cheese. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 10-15 minutes, until melted and golden.

Mee Krob Crispy Noodles
This Thai delight is a fun way to use rice noodles. It wouldn’t be authentic, but you could save time and fat grams by just boiling the noodles. Pickled garlic, tamarind, and garlic chives are available at most Asian groceries.

7 ounces rice vermicelli
3 cups peanut oil for frying
1 can mock duck shredded
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons tamari
1/2 teaspoon tamarind concentrate optional
3 whole egg beaten
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 heads pickled garlic sliced
1 whole jalapeno sliced
1/2 cup cilantro stems removed
1 bunch garlic chives chopped

An hour before cooking time, mist vermicelli in a colander with cold water and set in a ventilated place to dry. Assemble all your ingredients, as you will want to serve this immediately. Stir together vinegar, sugar, tamari, and tamarind, reserve.
Heat oil in a wok until 360 degrees (use a thermometer). Drop a noodle in–it
should float and puff up. If it sinks it’s not hot enough. Prepare a plate with paper towels for draining noodles as they are fried. Fry noodles in small batches until just puffed. Let oil reheat between batches. Reserve. Pour out oil and wipe out wok, put two teaspoons oil in wok. Stir fry mock duck lightly, add liquids and eggs and cook until eggs are set, stirring. Add remaining ingredients and heat through. Serve over noodles.

Sopa Seca
In Spanish, it translates to “dry soup.” Unlike pastas that are boiled separately and then sauced, this technique first gives the noodles a toasted flavor by frying them, then cooks them in a flavorful broth instead of water, resulting in a thick stew.

2 tablespoon vegetable oil
4 ounces coiled capellini or vermicelli
1 onion finely chopped
2 clove garlic minced
1 medium green bell pepper seeded and diced
1 cup canned tomato diced, with juice
1 chipotle pepper, dried or canned, minced
4 cups vegetable or chicken stock
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1/2 cup queso anejo or parmesan cheese, crumbled or shredded
1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves

Heat oil in a deep skillet over medium heat. Break pasta into short lengths and carefully brown in hot oil. Remove pasta with a slotted spoon to a plate with a paper towel on it, let drain. Pour out most of the oil and saute the onion, garlic and pepper until soft.
Add noodles, tomato, chipotle, and stock. Cover and cook until pasta is tender (about five minutes). Stir often, and add some water if it is sticking. Remove from heat and stir in half of the cheese, serve topped with cheese and cilantro.

For a total noodle experience, try visiting shops that specialize in ethnic groceries: United Noodles, on 24th Street and Minnehaha in Minneapolis, has a huge selection of fresh and dried Japanese and Chinese noodles, and Shuang Hur, at 27th and Nicollet in Minneapolis has a selection leaning less toward Japan and more toward China and Vietnam. Buon Giorno, in Saint Paul, is the place to find Italian imported pastas. Asia Imports on 19th and North Central avenue is an Indian superstore, and even sells a noodle press for making sev. The many Hispanic Markets on Lake Street sell thin fideo for sopa seca, although fine cappellini nests work well too.

Robin Asbell is owner and chef of Natural Foods Chef In Home Catering Services and has over 15 years experience in the natural foods industry. Her natural foods cooking classes are offered at Whole Foods Market, Kitchen Window, Edina Continuing Education, The Marsh, and Williams Sonoma. Member, International Association of Culinary Professionals. 612-724-5107; email Asbellr@citilink.com.