Using Your (Egg) Noodle
The new Netflix Chef’s Table series on Noodles points to the popularity of this staple, especially at this time of year. Episode 1 featured Los Angeles chef Evan Funke and the next three will focus on a Chinese chef, an Italian chef from south of Naples, and an Oakland-based Cambodian chef. Be forewarned that you should have dinner before you watch, or the beautifully filmed steaming bowls of noodles make your stomach growl.
October is National Pasta Month and no better time to turn to the comfort of a noodle dish or two to celebrate the wheat-based staple that is consumed around the world in staggering amounts. Americans typically eat 20 pounds of pasta annually—far below the Italians who put away 51 pounds—and the Chinese who consume far more, mostly in the form of readily available and economical instant noodles.
The origin of the art of pasta and noodle-making is credited to the Chinese even though wheat was grown in the Mediterranean region before it arrived in China. The Chinese developed the art of noodle-making sometime before 200 BCE and in 300 CE the poet Shu Xi wrote an “Ode to Bing” that described in rapturous detail the translucent quality of the dough that wrapped around fillings for dumplings:
“It swells so that one can guess at the stuffing below,
Soft as silk floss in the springtime,
White as autumn silk, cooked just in time.”
In the Middle East and the Mediterranean, pasta-like preparations emerged in the 6th century. Syrian text from the 9th century gave the Arabic name itriya to a preparation made from semolina flour shaped into strings and dried. The Italian term macaroni first appeared in the 13th century and the term included various shapes of pasta made fresh with soft wheat flour throughout Italy and dried types made from durum semolina in the south and in Sicily.
Durum wheat and standard wheat have different characteristics. Durum pasta is made from semolina, which is milled durum endosperm that is coarse and hard, with a distinctive yellow color. Durum pasta generally does not contain eggs, which makes it ideal for drying and long-term storage.
Standard wheat flour is used for noodles that contain eggs, which is the preference in Northern Europe and in the United States. The eggs perform two functions in noodles—to enhance the color and richness and to provide additional protein to strengthen the noodle. That protein prevents the noodle from absorbing too much liquid, so egg noodles are ideal additions to soup. Think Minestrone Soup that is nice and brothy on the first day, and on the next, consists of swollen ditalini with no broth at all. Ditalini is made with durum wheat and water.
Fresh pasta made with eggs or egg noodles should not be dried because there is a minimal risk of salmonella. Prolonged drying at room temperature may allow microbes to multiply to hazardous levels. Egg noodles or fresh egg pasta should be consumed immediately or frozen for safe storage.
Spaghetti and noodles are not the same, although the terms are often interchangeable. The National Pasta Association defines a noodle as a product with at least 5.5% egg content. Spaghetti is typically made with durum semolina and contains no eggs so it is not considered a noodle.. Similarly, the National Pasta Association defines pasta as being made with durum wheat and water. Since spaghetti is made with these ingredients and does not contain eggs, it is a type of pasta.
What is better? Nutritionally, they are about the same in terms of calories per 100-gram serving: 138 kcal for noodles vs. 157 for pasta. Counterintuitively, pasta contains slightly more protein and carbohydrates than noodles and slightly less fiber.
Bob Ricketts has been making pasta for 17 years in Central Pennsylvania with a popular business called Fasta Pasta. The Penn State Hospitality Management major launched his business shortly after I knew him as a student in the Foods Lab. He is a big proponent of frozen vs. dried pasta products. “The biggest obstacle to the acceptance of frozen noodles is consumer education. People just don’t know how much better the frozen product is. It tastes like freshly made and you don’t have to worry about spoilage.”
Take a tip from a pro and try some frozen egg noodles with your fall comfort food dishes, like this tasty Pork Cooked in Cider. You may be inspired to write an ode to the frozen egg noodle.