noodle

1 a ribbonlike strip of pasta

2 informal terms for a human head [syn: attic, bean, bonce, noggin, dome]

English

Etymology

nodus, knot, via German Nudel (noodle).

Pronunciation

• /nuːdl/, /nu:dl/

• Rhymes: -uːdəl

Noun

1. In the context of "usually in plural": A string or strip of pasta, especially as used in Chinese food.

   Although "spaghetti" is considered to be Italian, Marco Polo brought the noodle back from the far East (specifically, Beijing.)

2. A person with poor judgement; a fool.
3. The brain.

Derived terms

• noodle bar
• egg noodle
• pool noodle

Translations

fool See fool

See also

• pasta
• spaghetti

Verb

1. In the context of "fishing": To fish (usually for very large catfish) without any equipment other than the fisherman's own body

   Fred had several lacerations on his hands from noodling for flathead in the river.

2. To think or ponder.

   He noodled over the problem for a day or two before making a decision.

3. To fiddle, play with, or mess around.

   If the machine is really broken, noodling with the knobs is not going to fix it.

4. To improvise music.

   He has been noodling with that trumpet all afternoon, and every bit of it sounds awful.

Derived terms

• noodler

A noodle is made from unleavened dough that has been shaped into thin flat strips or round cylinders and cooked in a boiling liquid. Depending upon the type, noodles may be dried or refrigerated before cooking. The word noodle derives from the German Nudel (noodle) and may be related to the Latin word nodus (knot). In English, noodle is a generic term for unleavened dough made from many different types of ingredients and includes a variety of shapes.

The first written account of noodles is from the East Han Dynasty between AD 25 and 220. In October 2005, the oldest noodles yet discovered were found at the Lajia site (Qijia culture) along the Yellow River in Qinghai, China. The 4,000-year-old noodles appear to have been made from foxtail millet and broomcorn millet.

Types of noodles by primary ingredient

Egg

Egg noodles are usually made of a mixture of egg and flour

• Thin noodles: Asian egg noodles are common throughout China and Southeast Asia (known as mie telor in Indonesian or ba mee (บะหมี่) in Thai).
• Lochshen: wide egg noodles used in Eastern European Jewish cuisine
• Reshteh: Middle Eastern egg noodles
• Spätzle: Egg noodle generally associated with the southern German states of Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria
• Tăiţei: Romanian egg noodles
• Tagliatelle: Italy Made either fresh with eggs or pasta-like with heavy grain.

Wheat

• Chūka men (中華麺): Japanese for "Chinese noodles", used for ramen, chanpon and yakisoba
• Lamian (拉麵): hand pulled Chinese noodles
• Mee pok (麪薄): flat, green Chinese noodles, popular in Southeast Asia
• Sōmen (そうめん): very thin Japanese wheat noodles
• Udon (うどん): thick Japanese wheat noodles

Rice

• Flat or Thick rice noodles, also known as héfěn or ho fun (河粉), kway teow or sen yai (เส้นใหญ่)
• Rice vermicelli: thin rice noodles, also known as mǐfěn (米粉) or bee hoon or sen mee (เส้นหมี่)

Mung bean

• Cellophane noodles, also known as glass noodles, or bean vermicelli. fěnsī (粉絲) in Chinese, harusame(春雨) in Japanese, soun or suun in Indonesian, wun sen (วุ้นเส้น) in Thai.

Potato or canna starch

• Cellophane noodles can also be made from potato starch or canna starch or various starches of the same genre.

Buckwheat

• Naengmyeon: Korean noodles made of buckwheat and sweet potato starch. Slightly more chewy than soba.
• Soba (蕎麦): Japanese buckwheat noodles

Acorn

• Acorn noodles, also known as dotori gooksoo (도토리국수), are made of acorn meal, wheat flour, wheat germ, and salt.

Types of noodle dishes

• Pasta is an Italian noodle dish.

• Basic noodles: These are cooked in water or broth, then drained. Other foods can be added (for example a pasta sauce ) or the noodles are added to other foods (see fried noodles or lasagna) or the noodles can be served plain with a dipping sauce or oil to be added at the table. In general, noodles are soft and absorb flavors.

• Chilled noodles: noodles are sometimes served in a salad. An example is the Thai glass noodle salad yam woon sen. In Japan, traditional Japanese noodles such as soba and somen are often served chilled with a dipping sauce. Some western dishes like pasta salads also call for cold noodles.

• Fried noodles: dishes made of noodles stir fried with various meats, seafood or vegetables. Typical examples include chow mein, lo mein, mee goreng, hokkien mee, some varieties of pancit, yakisoba and pad thai.

• Noodle soup: noodles served in broth. Examples are phở, beef noodle soup, ramen, laksa, saimin and batchoy, and chicken noodle soup.

Other uses

• As an adjective, the word "noodle" can be combined with a body part in order to emphasize the narrowness or literal noodle-like size of such body part, often in a mocking sense. For example, "This credenza desk is very heavy. You won't be able to pick it up with those noodle-arms."
• 'Noodling' is also a term for playing smooth fast guitar solos on the guitar.
• Also used as a verb, to ponder. Example, "I have been noodling that idea for some time."
• Also a noodle is a foam pool toy.

See also

• Phở
• Chinese noodles
• Cup noodles
• Frozen noodles
• Instant noodles
• Japanese noodles
• Korean noodles
• Philippine noodles (pancit)
• Shirataki noodles: Japanese noodles with very low carbohydrates
• Spätzle: Southern German noodles with egg
• Reshteh: Middle Eastern fresh egg noodle
• Wai-Wai: Noodles popular in South Asia.

[[Media:

Notes

• Acorn Hut Organic Acorn Noodles

Italian paste, bean, belfry, brain, brow, chowderhead, chucklehead, chump, conk, crown, dome, dope, dumbhead, dumpling, dunderhead, encephalon, fedellini, fettuccine, gray matter, head, headpiece, knaydlach, lasagne, macaroni, matzo balls, noddle, noddy, noggin, noodles, organ of thought, pasta, paste, pate, poll, ravioli, ridge, sconce, seat of thought, sensation, sensorium, sensory, spaetzle, spaghetti, spaghettini, stupe, vermicelli, won ton, ziti