Who Invented Noodles?

<p>This week, we're revisiting one of our favorite older episodes from the past. We’re going to learn a little bit about the history of noodles--and how to make them!<br> <br> We’re joined by <a href="http://www.jenlinliu.com/about-1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Jen Lin-Liu</a>, author of the book <em>On the Noodle Road: From Beijing to Rome with Pasta and Love</em>. </p> <p>And we also get an exciting hand-pulled noodle demonstration from Tony Wu, who was the executive chef at M.Y. China, a restaurant in San Francisco’s Chinatown, when we originally recorded this audio in 2019. Wu can hand-pull 16,000 strands of noodles from one lump of dough in just two minutes...while blindfolded! Narrating this noodle-pulling exhibition is celebrity chef <a href="http://yancancook.com/home/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Martin Yan</a>, who owned the restaurant. (M.Y. China closed during the pandemic.)</p> <p><strong>Download our learning guides: <a href="https://www.vpr.org/sites/vpr/files/202009/how_are_noodles_made_.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">PDF</a> | <a href="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1zYEPtwP0vULYlwfpdKt8Nd3jAuZzuNYCsF34KjwY_-0/copy" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Google Slide</a> | <a href="https://www.vpr.org/sites/vpr/files/202005/but-why-kids-100-noodles-TRANSCRIPT.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Transcript</a> | <a href="http://vimeo.com/359799419" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Video</a></strong></p> <p>The first written references to noodles or pasta can be found in Chinese texts dating back about 3200 years. Author Jen Lin-Liu says it's likely that pasta developed in China and in the Middle East within a couple hundred years ago. But what likely didn't happen was the often repeated idea that Italian explorer and trader Marco Polo "discovered" noodles during his two decades traveling in east Asia and then introduced them to Italians upon his return.</p> <p>"Probably what happened," Lin-Liu told <em>But Why,</em> "was they were invented in China and they were also invented somewhe