As I picked up ‘That Noodle Life’, written by Mike Le and Stephanie Le, I was mentally debating “what is a noodle”? I decided it was, in one form or another, pasta. Then I realised there were rice noodles too. Hmmm, I had a problem.
Obviously, the authors have had the same quandary, but I think we have all agreed that noodles are a definite comfort food – they make us happy.
Fresh or dried
In the interest of their own favourite meals and for the purposes of researching this book Mike and Stephanie have travelled the world investigating all things noodle.
Quite obviously they are not too worried whether the noodles are fresh or dried, homemade or commercial – whichever; the secret for a good noodle they reckon is in the cooking and serving. Sounds good to us.
75 super tasty recipes
Apart from sounding tasty in their own right, and especially when served with the correct shape noodles, the 75 recipes we reckon could also be inspirational sauces and toppings for meals featuring any type of pasta that happens to be in our store cupboard.
Useful notes and tips too
Most of the recipes come with useful Notes and even more interesting and useful Tips! There are suggestions for Great Dressings, Proteins and Vegetables. And to make ‘That Noodle Life’ even more helpful, one Appendix deals with suggestions for Ingredients, whilst the second Appendix deals with Equipment for the Noodle Kitchen.
We particularly enjoyed reading the page in the Ramen section of the book which tells us How to Order Ramen in Japan! And how great to see that the book also deals with Instant Noodles and how to enliven them, and make them more nutritious, and tasty.
Great photography
Whilst the book is most definitely serious about their beloved noodles, Mike and Stephanie write with gentle humour, and alongside the recipes is great noodle photography from Mike and his camera.
One word of caution however, the measurements in this book are chiefly in Cups. That apart ‘That Noodle Life’ we can see will become our go-to cook book for inspiration when cooking noodles/pasta and especially for lasagne noodles – yummy.
More information
‘That Noodle Life’. Mike Le and Stephanie Le. ISBN: 978-1-5235-0532-6. £23.99. Workman. workman.com