Once upon a time, if you wanted to make a recipe that called for soba, udon, or any other kind of Asian noodle, you had to also find your nearest Asian grocery store. Happily, these noodles have become much easier to find in recent years. Here's a quick guide to the most common kinds!
You generally cook these Asian noodles the same way you cook any other kind of pasta: in a large amount of salted boiling water until the pasta is al dente. The exceptions are rice noodles and cellophane noodles, which are so thin and tender that they only need to be soaked in hot water until soft.
Soba - These noodles are made from buckwheat flour and have a correspondingly strong, nutty flavor. We generally find dried soba in packets, but keep your eyes open for fresh soba at Asian markets (or make your own!). Dried soba looks like flat spaghetti and is usually light beige to dark brown-gray in color. Try soba in these recipes:
• Sesame-Garlic Soba Noodles with Fried Egg
• Cold Soba, Sesame, and Carrot Salad
Udon - Chewy and soft, these thick wheat noodles are best when you can find them fresh. Dried udon is still good, but the texture is more dense. Udon has a neutral flavor, so they make a good choice for strongly-flavored dishes. Try these recipes:
• Udon Soup with Bok Choy and Poached Egg
• Curried Udon Noodle Stir Fry
Ramen - Also made of wheat, ramen noodles are much thinner and longer than udon and have a nice chewy bite when cooked. Forget the seasoning packet they come with and make your own Healthy Instant Ramen.
Bean Threads - These are also sometimes called cellophane noodles, glass noodles, or mung bean threads. They are made from mung bean starch, and look like little bundles of very thin, translucent threads. These noodles are fantastic in Vegetable and Mint Summer Rolls or as a substitute for vermicelli rice noodles.
Vermicelli Rice Noodles - Vermicelli noodles are made from rice flour and have a very similar texture to angel hair pasta. The dried noodles come in packets of long, very thin, translucent threads. Try them in Bun Chay (Vietnamese Vegetarian Noodle Salad) or as a substitute for bean threads.
Rice Noodles - These are also made from rice flour, but flatter and softer when cooked. Try them in dishes like pad thai or Vietnamese Noodle Pho.
What dishes do you like making with these noodles?
Related: Know Your Asian Greens
(Image: Emma Christensen)
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Anyone ever been to a genuine Japanese noodle place and had fresh udon? Notice how they're as thin as ramen or soba? It's usually the frozen stuff (pictured in this article) that's only that thick.
Oh, also, the dried ones are usually thinner, too.
Not Noodle related... Can you tell me the Brand and Style name of the spoon? Really like it!
Don't forget to rinse with cold water after cooking / soaking to arrest the cooking process and wash off residual flour, otherwise your noodles will be sticky!
Gary, ever noodle place I've ever been to has served fat udon and that includes the hole-in-the-wall restaurants in JapanTown, SF. My understanding is that udon = thick, ramen = thin.
Hi Tiamat,
Yeah, the thick udon must be the more common and - dare I say it? - "cheaper" one. When I get it from a market, it's never dried, but frozen. But whenever I go to a hardcore traditional Japanese noodle restaurant, or find some dried udon in fancy-looking packages in the Japanese market, they're all much thinner than the thick ones picture above. I love the fat ones, though.
Also, I'd like to point out that ramen is really more of a whole dish than just the noodles.
Can anyone recommend any particular brands of soba and udon that are good? Even mail order would work since I don't have easy access to them. What is a "gourmet" manufacturer of Japanese noodles?
GretaGrace - the spoon is from Williams Sonoma! The "Flute" line, I believe.
Then there are the noodles made with potato starch (Japanese ones), and with sweet potato starch (Korean ones)... not sure of the names though, but I love cooking with them. They are"glass" noodles -- transparent, but much thicker than the bean thread.
Soba noodles are a carbohydrate with a low glycemic index, and love them as a cold accompaniment to roast chicken with a simple Asian marinade (had that for dinner last night).
Sorry Gary, you might to cook but you don't seem to know much about Japanese food.
Udon noodles vary a little in thickness but are never ever as thin as ramen or soba. The picture is actually of quite a small bowl so the udon noodles probably look thicker in comparison.
Also, ramen is the name of the noodles and of the dish. Ramen noodles originated in China and the word is the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese name for the noodles. Proper ramen shouldn't ever be confused with instant noodles which were invented in the 1950's, just like real mac n' cheese isn't the same as the stuff from the Kraft box!
I second the dried glass noodles made of sweet potato starch. They are really cheap, and are ab-friendly. For me it's the Chinese equivalent of using whole wheat noodles.
But my absolutely favorite noodle are the fat flat ones that you get fresh, the kind they use to wrap shrimp in for that favorite dum sum dish and are also cut up to be used in chow fun. My mom used to buy these and put it in her home made Taiwanese beef noodle soup. So good.
Wow, Elder, such accusatory words... I wasn't making any claims about udon being thinner than what the article says; just telling about the variations and trends I've seen. You know... sharing information.
The pre-cooked, frozen udon noodles I've bought in markets are maybe around 6mm thick. The dried ones I've bought in markets or fresh ones I've eaten at traditional Japanese noodle restaurants made are more like 2mm.
Ramen noodles can be that thick, too, but I've never seen them thicker than that. Maybe in America we call both the soup and the noodles ramen, but in Japan, raamen is the dish, and the noodles are called Chinese noodles, chuuka men.
Maybe, as you say, I don't know much about Japanese food, but I still have the experience of living there for several years. Not to turn this into a weird, Japanophilish brag, but I just found your words about me unnecessarily offensive.
Gary, Elder is right. You may have purchased and used Asian noodles before, but your information/observations are incorrect. I also don't think Elder was being offensive. Merely pointing out your error.
I've lived in Japan for 20 years. The dish and the noodles are called ramen. Chukamen is another name for the same kind of noodle, but is usually only called that when served cold, like in hiyashi chyuuka. It is never as fat or fatter than udon, and udon is always fat. Ramen and udon noodles have distinctly different textures as well, as noted in the article.
Emma, the article's author, has the correct information.
*hiyashi chuuka
I'm sorry to say this, but this article has some incorrect informations. You don't cook Soba and Udon with salt. Just plain water is fine. And I'm not sure about al dente. In my opinion, undercooked Udon is not tasty, also is not very good for your health. I understand why author wrote al dente, though. North American people tend to overcook noodles. Any noodles.
Gary, I can see what you're saying. Some of the pre-cooked frozen Udon noodles are super thick. Those are so-called instant Udon, just the same as those TV-dinner, for people those who don't want to take their time for cooking. Pre-cooked Udon is not popular in Japan. Most people use dry ones, I think.
However, I don't think Udon are as thin as ramen or soba. Usually Udon is thicker than them. Have you ever seen Hiyamugi noodles? They are thin like Soba, and they taste like Udon. Or Somen noodles? They are even thinner than Ramen and Soba.
Thanks for your reply, Mrs. Mack, but... it's just not a great feeling being called wrong when I'm not even writing my opinions or original material, you know? I could go take pictures of everything to prove it, but I'm sure is not as big of a deal to anyone else here. I could have exaggerated when I said I've seen udon as thin as ramen/soba? Sorry if that's the case. But I have definitely seen pretty chunky ramen as well as pretty thin udon, much thinner than instant udon (thanks for the word, Ayame!).
"ラーメンとは、汁（スープ）に茹でた中華麺を入れた日本の料理。"
Japanese have claimed that Chinese noodles are their noodles, and now they cook Udon with Chinese Soy Sauce.