Noodle Q

I’ve been feeling deprived of Asian food recently, so yesterday I had a drunken chicken sandwich for lunch at Baguette Box, and tonight I’m making lo mein for dinner, which raises an old and painful question.

The noodle recipe I’m using is from Cook’s Illustrated, and like many of their Asian noodle recipes, it calls for “fresh Chinese egg noodles,” which it assures me will be found in the produce department of my supermarket. Well, they’re not. The supermarkets near me, which are no podunk affairs, have fresh udon and yakisoba noodles, but no fresh egg noodles. Periodically I take a peek at other supermarkets, and I’ve never seen these noodles anywhere other than an Asian grocery.

Is this an east coast/west coast thing, like how Cook’s is always recommending Pepperidge Farm bread (sigh)? I buy the yakisoba, and they’re fine (albeit $5), but what’s the deal with the egg noodles? East coasters, do you have Chinese egg noodles in your produce section? Californians? West Seattleites?

10 thoughts on “Noodle Q

  1. Jason Truesdell

    Funny… Tigers and Strawberries seems to have taken that article as the last straw…

    I never really look for prepared “fresh” egg noodles, because even the ones at Uwajimaya don’t taste all that fresh to me, but I could swear I’ve seen the same ones at Central Market. Maybe even QFC.

  2. teri

    Californian here. I can’t tell you about the traditional supermarkets b/c I don’t end up shopping there very much, but in Asian markets throughout the area you can find fresh egg noodles.

  3. mamster Post author

    Jason, that was an awesome post. I do use Asian recipes from Cook’s sometimes because I know they’re going to be easy and taste fine. Then, if I feel like it’s a category of dish I want to explore further, I’ll look at other sources.

    I wouldn’t even think of denying that the prose is Cook’s is condescending, not to mention leaden.

  4. Maggi

    East Coast (Maryland) write it…

    Our Asian supermarkets have fresh egg noodles as well. But I will say this… if the place smells “funny” then the noodles will taste funny too. I say this because we have a few of these large Asian supermarkets in the area and the one I used to frequent has a great selection, but that funny smell just permeated anything “fresh” in the store.

    Aside… I like Barbara’s blog (as well as the CI post) and encourage anyone who has a healthy love for Asian food to check it out. A smart read. Just like this blog. :)

  5. mamster Post author

    Maggi, I have subscribed.

    To be clear, I’m wondering about availability of fresh egg noodles in non-Asian supermarkets. I can get them in the ID, but it’s too big a trip for a weeknight dinner.

  6. Jessica

    Some of my local Giant and Safeway stores have them (usually next to the Asian vegetables and next to wonton wrappers), some don’t. Depends partly on the immediate area’s population.

    Silver Spring Maryland.

  7. kimberly

    I think it’s a Boston thing at this point. They’re forever recommending things that cannot be found at the typical Atlanta supermarket, although can usually be found at Whole Foods or small ethnic grocery stores.

    Do you ever find that their times are off? At some point I started mentally doubling the time they say a recipe can be done in–I don’t know if I’m just terribly slow, or perhaps they are terribly fast.

  8. mamster Post author

    Kimberly, I recently got their book The Best 30-Minute Recipe, and I found that I can’t complete most of the recipes in 30 minutes. And I’m pretty fast.

  9. Maggi

    You two are not alone. It takes me longer than estimated to complete the 30 minute CI recipes as well. And I have better than average knife skills, and (I like to think) good organization in the kitchen.

    As for the noodles in the regular market, it is hit or miss here in the greater Baltimore area. You might find it at your local Safeway or Giant this week, and then they may not carry it again for months. So, the Asian markets is a regular monthly stop for me, even though the closest one is 20 miles from my home. With that said… I have such a difficult time finding Thai staples (namely Kaffir lime leaves and Galangal to name a few) in this area. The “Asian” markets are more like Korean markets with some token Japanese and Chinese products thrown in. I love the variety of Kimchi, but I wish I could cook more Thai at home without resorting to mail order sources. Frustrating.

  10. dfan

    OK, I’m glad to hear that you folks can’t finish those recipes in 30 minutes, because we can’t either. Our success rate as far as tastiness of the end product has been around 5/6, though (the pasta with sausage and spinach ended over-salty; perhaps our chicken broth had too much).

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