Your guide to noodles

Confused by the different varieties or unsure about their nutritional values? Nutritionist Amanda Ursell shares some noodle knowledge.

Noodles are the staple ingredient of many Asian cuisines, including Japanese and Chinese cooking, and the noodles we cook with in the West tend to originate from these countries.

Noodles can be made from a variety of grains, depending on which cereals are grown in a particular area. This explains why the southern regions of China tend to make noodles from rice, while in the north they’re mostly wheat based. Other cereals, such as millet and barley, are also used, as well as vegetable starch from beans, peas, corn or potatoes.

There are plenty of advantages to noodles – they’re cheap, nutritious, filling and easy to store and cook. They can also be eaten hot or cold, or be boiled, drained and added to other ingredients as part of a stir-fry. The healthiest option is to add them to soup made with a reduced-salt stock and vegetables, lean meat or seafood.

What’s a healthy serving?

Aim to have about 60g dried noodles per serving (about 150g cooked weight). For egg noodles, this equates to about 1½ mugfuls of noodles, with 210kcal, 1.2g fat, 40g carbs and 8g protein.

Healthy noodle recipes for you to try

• Chicken noodle okonomiyaki
• Prawn laksa stir-fry
• Egg-drop chicken and noodle soup
• Stir-fried pork with rice noodles, peanuts and choy sum
• Chinese pork mince and noodles