Tracking Down the ‘Noodle’ Road

August 11, 2014

Forget textiles, spices and precious gems, the famed Silk Road trade route carried something all together more surprising: noodles.

Common lore has long had us believing that noodles were brought west by the famed explorer Marco Polo. But the truth of noodles’ origins are far more enigmatic, stretching along the 7000 miles that linked Asia, the Middle East and, finally, the Mediterranean.

The oldest mention of noodles seems to be found in China, as far back as the 3rd century AD. And yet the staple also appears in cave paintings from the ancient Etruscans and records from the early Romans (how it emerged on these far sides of the world still remains a mystery). Other food historians argue that it originated in the birthplace of wheat, the Middle East, and traveled both east and west with the Arab caravan traders in a dried form that was light and easy to transport.

We may never know the exact path that noodles took around the world, but we do know that today they are twisted and slurped everywhere from fine dining rooms to curb-side stalls.

From Malaysia to Uzbekistan, we bring you the best noodles we have eaten across the world, and one that we are still dying to try:

Malacca

Most of our days in this steamy city began with a curry laksa from Nancy’s Nyonya Laksa on Jalan Temenggong. Preparing for the 100 bowls she sells each morning is no easy feet – Nancy wakes up a 5:00am every day to start simmering the rich broth of 20 coconuts. As the sun rises she adds the clams, dried chilli, shrimp, special dhawan kassom leaves and thick rice noodles, ready for her first customers. The dish originated amongst the city’s Chinese merchants, known as Perankans, and Nancy’s version was handed down to her from her god-sister.

Another of our favorite dishes in Malacca was the popular Mee Goreng noodles. Consisting of fried yellow noodles with a wide variety of toppings, the dish is derived from Chinese Chow Mein but interestingly it is most often found sold by vendors of Tamil Indian descent, called mamak.

Hanoi

The most delicious dishes we ate in Vietnam all consisted of noodles in one form or another. In the name of serious research we hunted down the best pho in Hanoi and ‘taste tasted’ every vermicelli noodle dish we could find, from the chargrilled bún chả to the fresh tasting bún bò nam bộ. Our stomachs have yet to recover!

Bukhara

As one of the most important stops on the Silk Road, it should not have surprised us that that people of Bukhara would create their own noodle dish. Believed to have been brought to Central Asia by Chinese speaking Muslims, Uzbekistan’s lagman noodles share many similarities with East Asian dishes. This lamb and vegetable noodle dish is one of the country’s signature meals, and one of the most varied. Depending on where you are you can find a simple tomato and potato version, a stir-fried Lo Mein style preparation or even a delicate version with noodles pulled as thin as silk threads.

Japan

We are currently preparing for a trip to Japan and as excited as we are to explore the country’s ancient crafts, we would be lying if we didn’t mention how very excited we are to eat as much ramen as humanly possible.

In preparation we have been sitting down to some serious ramen research and were thrilled to come across Nate at Ramenate! A serious ramen aficionado, Nate catalogs his near daily consumption as he slurps his way through Tokyo’s restaurants and street stalls.

So what is it about this simple concoction that has inspired such devotion from both locals and foreigners for centuries? We’re looking forward to finding out!