Noodle Soup is a hearty, usually healthy, warm soup that has noodles as the primary constituent but may also include certain vegetables and/or meat, in a broth, making it an all-in-one preparation that is relished by everybody. In fact, the Noodle Soup has today become a staple food of the Eastern and South East Asian countries. Various types of noodles may be used to serve this purpose, from the delicate, thin rice noodles or glass noodles to the thick, flat buckwheat noodles.
Noodle Soup Varieties
There are innumerable soup varieties, based on regional variations, each carrying their own characteristic signature styles owing to the use of different local ingredients. Some of them are-
1. Cambodian Noodle Soup: Known as Ka tieu, a pork broth based soup made using rice noodles and a mix of shrimp, liver of pork, meat balls and finished with lightly fried garlic, green onions, lime, fresh cilantro and served with hoisin sauce.
2. China is the region which gave birth to several types of Noodle soups which have been adapted by many Asian countries and customized subsequently to make their own specialized versions.
• Ban mian: consists of flat egg noodles in a special Hokkien style soup.
• Wanton noodles soup: This is a Cantonese speciality soup dish.
• Crossing the bridge noodles: a bowl of chicken broth in which meat, raw eggs, uncooked rice noodles, vegetables, and some flavourful flowers are added in a stepwise manner, depending on the time required for each to be cooked.
3. Japan: The traditional Japanese noodles soups are served in hot soy-dashi broth with a garnish of chopped scallions. Some popular toppings such as tempura, batter of tempura or aburaage i.e. deep fried tofu may be included.
• The popular Japanese Soba noodle soup consisting of thin brown buckwheat noodles in broth.
• Udon is the thick wheat noodle soup served with a variety of interesting toppings, in a hot soy-dashi broth or in a typical Japanese curry based soup.
• Champon medium thick, yellow noodles cooked in hot chicken broth and served with different vegetables and seafood toppings. This soup was first prepared in Nagasaki as a cheap meal mainly for the student community.
4. Korea: Boasts of an impressive range of noodle soups such as-
• Janchi guksu or noodles in seaweed based broth served along with us fresh condiments like kimchi, boiled and sliced eggs, scallions, and thinly sliced cucumbers.
• Jjamppong is a spicy noodle soup preparation of mixed Korean Chinese descent.
• Naengmyeon and Ramyeon are different types of special Korean noodles each with their typical ingredients.
5. Indonesian: Rice vermicelli in spiced chicken soup broth. It is served with fried potato slices, boiled egg, fried shallots, celery leaves
6. Malaysian and Singaporean: famous Curry Laksas which is essentially rice noodles in a coconut based curry soup, with prawns, chicken, tofu, fish, or boiled egg. Regional variations to this soup exist throughout Malaysia.
Also popular are the other Asian Noodle Soup Variants such as The Burmese Khau swey, Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup, Tibetan Thukpa, Thai Noodle Soup or Thai Bami nam, Hawaiian Saimin, Vietnamese Mi Quang and the famous Chicken Noodle Soup from the US.
Nutritive Value of Chicken Noodle Soup
Chicken Noodle Soup is one of the most basic noodle soups and forms the foundation of many noodle soups. Therefore, its nutritive value is discussed-
For its carbohydrate, fat and protein composition, the chicken noodle soup seems to be an exceptional choice as it nearly meets the recommended intakes for a day.
One bowl of homemade chicken noodle soup (~ 220g) provides
1. A total of 21 g of carbohydrates of which 6.1 g is sugar and only 2.1 g of fiber, remainder making up other carbohydrate components.
2. A total of 195 calories, 42 calories from fat.
3. Total fat content of 4.7 g of which saturated fat is 2.2 g.
4. Protein content of 17.2 g.
5. High sodium content of 800-900 mg.
6. Minerals like Calcium, phosphorus, potassium, manganese, selenium and copper which proves that this food is good for bone health.
7. Vitamin A and B- vitamins are found aplenty in the chicken noodle soup making it good for eyesight, immunity, energy release.
A packaged Lipton Noodle Soup (~120g) available in the market is purported to be a low calorie option for persons on weight loss programs-
1. Individual portion controlled packets provide 70 calories.
2. It provides 12g of carbohydrates.
3. It is claimed to be low in fat with 2 g total fat and 0.5 g saturated fat/serving.
4. Each pouch provides 3 g of protein.
5. 700 mg of Sodium.
6. Some B-vitamins are available.
A comparative analysis of the two options shows the high sodium content in the packed version which is not good for health, especially harmful for persons with elevated blood pressure levels.
A Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup (serving size of 619 g) provides-
• 367 calories; 54 from fat
• 6 g total fat, 2 g saturated fat
• 35 mg cholesterol
• Sodium 384 mg
• Total carbohydrate 51 g
• Dietary fibre 2 g, Sugar 0 g
• Protein 24 g.
• Estimated % calories from fats is 15.3 %, from carbohydrates is 57.6 % and protein 27.1 %.
The Noodle Soups are usually a good source of energy, carbohydrates and proteins. Prudent cooking methods used in cooking and addition of several healthful, nutritious ingredients like vegetables, greens, whole wheat noodles, lean meats etc. can lower the fat and sodium contents making the Noodle Soup a nourishing and wholesome part of the meal or the meal itself.