noodle

Noodles are a type of food made from unleavened dough which is either rolled flat and cut, stretched, or extruded, into long strips or strings. Noodles are a staple food in many cultures (for example, Chinese noodles, Filipino noodles, Indonesian noodles, Japanese noodles, Korean noodles, Vietnamese noodles, and long and medium length Italian pasta) and made into a variety of shapes. While long, thin strips may be the most common, many varieties of noodles are cut into waves, helices, tubes, strings, or shells, or folded over, or cut into other shapes. Noodles are usually cooked in boiling water, sometimes with cooking oil or salt added. They are often pan-fried or deep-fried. Noodles are often served with an accompanying sauce or in a soup. Noodles can be refrigerated for short-term storage or dried and stored for future use. Etymology The word for noodles in English, was borrowed in the 18th century from the German word . The German word likely came from or , and referred to any dumpling, though mostly of wheat. Colloquial uses for noodle to refer to someone's head, or to a "dummy" are unrelated, and likely came from the older word English, noddle.