Mom has never met a noodle she didn't like. Yes, she likes spaghetti just fine.
Saimin is the local comfort food. A lot of people like to go to Shiro's, Zippy's, Sekiya's or a number of other places to have this local Hawaiian staple.
There's also fried saimin which is the same noodles but fried with kamaboko (fish cake) and other veggies.
Mom likes LOVES wun tun min which is saimin with little pork dumplings in broth. This might be her favorite noodle. Maybe.
Udon are just thicker noodles in chicken or beef broth. My daughter and family love it and will go to Marukame Udon multiple times when they're in Waikiki.
I've always wondered about the difference between saimin and ramen and found this on EATER website:
"Saimin noodles are similar to ramen, but the dough has more eggs and a higher concentration of ash. These ingredients give the noodles an intense flavor and a chewier texture."
Ash? Seriously?
When we went to Japan she's loved ramen and soba. Ramen in curry sauce had everything mom likes.
Soba noodles are made with buckwheat. And yes, mom liked that too.
When Art and I were in Thailand, we got to try Pad Thai where we figured it originated. Pad Thai literally means 'Thai-style stir fried noodles."
Uuummm... It tasted just like it does in Chicago or Hawaii and we did love it just as much.
We were also excited about trying pho in Vietnam since it is supposed to be their national dish.
Yes. It was wonderful, really wonderful.
And yes, we've enjoyed pho right here in Hawaii too.
When we were in Chicago, our Korean-American son-in-law had us try jajangmyeon. Art really liked it. However, with all the dark sauce the noodles looked black. I saw in the newspaper that jajangmyeon is eaten on holidays, and April 14th (dedicated to single people) which is called Black Day. Is there some kind of subtle Korean message here?
We like pancit too which is the Filipino noodle dish. The Star Advertiser says there are two popular versions. Pancit canton and pancit bihon. Pancit canton is flour stick noodles while pancit bihon is made with thin rice vermicelli. I think I've only had the pancit bihon.
Despite the fact that mom loves wun tun min she is very partial to chow mein, especially Panda Express' chow mein.
Hmmm... You know what? We haven't taken her to Zippy's for wun tun min in several months because of the pandemic, but since she's gotten her Pfizer booster, I think it might be time to visit Nora, our favorite waitress there.
Up until a year or so ago we had a neighborhood Chinese takeout place that had the best Beef Lo Mein noodles with such delicious sauce that it may have ruined me for all others. The same family owned the little carryout place for at least 35 years. The Lo Mein was delicious all of those years. They closed a year ago or so, and I have tried other beef Lo Mein noodles and I haven't found any as tasty as those were. I never asked if the noodles were actually Lo Mein noodles or some other type of noodle, and the dish was called Lo Mein (beef chicken, pork).
ReplyDeleteMy other favorite noodles are Korean Jap Chae (sp?) noodles. They are a cellophane noodle made from sweet potatoes. I used to cook Jap Chae with sauteed beef, julienned carrots, and sliced onions, and mushrooms. I love those flavors, and so did my husband and son, when I used to cook it when the kids were little. My daughter wouldn't eat it, "Eww, I don't like those clear noodles, they look weird". I haven't made those in so long. Now I am hungry for Jap Chae or Beef Lo Mein.
My son, who lived in Okinawa for a couple of years, really enjoyed the food there. He especially liked all different kinds of sushi. I never heard him talk about the noodles, but I am sure he tried several different noodle dishes. He always enjoys trying the local food of all of the countries he has been stationed in or visited on his own, except when he was in countries in the Middle East and Africa, where he wasn't able to travel at leisure.
I've never heard of any of those noodles!!!
ReplyDeleteYou have captured my noodle with all these noodles and noodling around.
ReplyDeleteI love any kind of noodle also although haven't had the exotic ones you features.
ReplyDeleteMy, those noodles are all new to me. The one that looked the most tempting to me was the jajangmyeon.
ReplyDeleteI love noodles I didn't know about the difference between sailing and ramen.
ReplyDeleteall your noodle dishes sound intriguing!! Wish we could try them!
ReplyDeleteSome good looking dishes there. I think I would like most of them, but I have to admit that the egg on the plate disturbs me. I have a thing about the look of a boiled whole or partly whole egg. I don't know why.
ReplyDeleteI love reading about food, I always enjoy seeing your Mom & the Eternally Young Art, but like Madge and Arkansas Patti I've never had ANY of these exotic noodles. But last night I did watch a woman on Youtube make a "Chinese Italian Fusion" dish with ground beef, Asian spices and regular spaghetti. Her Asian hubby ate it with chopsticks twirling the noodles into a spoon and told people to open their goddam- eyes and try new things :^)
ReplyDeleteThese are delicious looking noodles and I'm only familiar with some of them. I loved the Pad Thai in Thailand but have only had Pho here and it was too noodly for me. Can there be such a thing? ;)
ReplyDeleteYour mom maintains her weight wonderfully despite the noodle intake. We love all sorts of noodles too. Unfortunately, they all show up in my middle.
ReplyDeleteI'm with your mom, I haven't met a noodle I didn't like and I've had all that you mentioned. I'm fortunate in that I'm friends with a Laotian who invites us over from time to time for some homemade pho. He makes it look so easy but our efforts to recreate it have always paled in comparison.
ReplyDeletePanda Express? That makes me laugh. All the places you must have there in Hawaii...
ReplyDeleteNot my taste, admittedly, which is odd considering I live near so much Asian cuisine.
ReplyDeleteOh, I LOVE noodles, too! Except not spaghetti. My youngest daughter's friend sells udon noodles with broth from his home and every once in a while, she picks some up and shares with me. THOSE are the best noodles I have ever had because they are super fresh and they have the consistency of mochi - chewy and dense, YUM!
ReplyDeletePal Jalna also turned me on to 7-11's saimin. It tastes just like Sekiya's saimin. I always microwave it longer than the directions because my microwave is not 1200 watts (volts?). A bit salty but that is what makes it taste so darn good, right? Their Pho is also surprisingly good. I throw in extra basil leaves since I have them growing wild in my garden.
Your post has made me hungry.
I miss saimin. 7-11? No kidding? We'll have to get one for mom to try. I have to avoid noodles these days.
DeleteI like noodles too but ours are most often referred to as pasta and are not in Asia flavored dishes. I remember so very long ago my mother making homemade egg noodles for chicken noodle soup. Yum.
ReplyDeleteWow! Thanks for the summary of noodles. I've been afraid to try many, but must seek out the spots. I've seen some small noodle restaurants but didn't know if they were part of a chain. Those are HUGE bowls of pho! I'm starving! Linda in Kansas
ReplyDeleteTrue, the bowl looks huge, but there weren't all that much noodles in the bowl. :-)
DeleteYour mom looks so cute in that oversized napkin, and so happy. Like her, I am a noodle freak. I find I make better fried saimin cuz most are too light on the seasoning and toppings. I like to buy Leeward Drive Inn's fried saimin, then I buy a cup of their char siu saimin soup, and then dip the saimin in the soup. It tastes way better and the soup comes with char siu and only $2 or so. It comes closest to the number 1 noodles on my list, Maui's Sam Sato's Dried E-min. I would fly to Maui to just eat it one more time. Sigh. BB
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh! We used to go to Leeward Drive-In ALL the TIME. It was on the way home from the high school. They really had the BEST fried saimin. Dipping the fried saimin in saimin soup??? Wow! I've never heard of doing that. Hmmm... I tried Sam Sato's saimin but couldn't get used to it. On the other hand my granddaughter from the mainland LOVED LOVED it and ate every single noodle. EVERY single noodle.
DeleteYou make me hungry, reading.
ReplyDeleteHow is she on zipmin? That's my favorite
ReplyDeleteThe zipmin is just a bit much for her to finish. Even the small wun tun min is a lot. I used to like that too.
DeleteIt's been a long time since I've had any sort of noodle, including spaghetti. I'm not sure why it just isn't an appealing food to my palate. But so many of the dishes you refer to are new to me! :-)
ReplyDeleteSo many different noodles! I love them
ReplyDeleteLove that last photograph :)
ReplyDeleteAll the best Jan
I miss ethnic restaurants.
ReplyDelete