From Spaetzle to Saimintosoda

As many noodle buffs know, the Japanese are fond of unusual spaghetti dishes (a spaghetti omelet or spaghetti with salmon caviar), and Spoon House and Akane Chaya are good old standbys for trying them out.

In the year or so it’s been open, Otafuku’s reputation for stunning handmade white soba noodles, known as sarashina soba, has quickly spread among noodle connoisseurs. These are the beluga of noodles. Owner Seiji Akutsu, a former Tokyo restaurateur, imports the proper white gozen-ko (first milling) soba flour, uses only Arrowhead water, and kneads his dough by hand to get noodles with a satiny, chewy resiliency. In keeping with his persnickety tastes, Akutsu-san prepares about six different broths to complement each of the noodle styles on his menu. For those who like a darker soba, Akutsu-san also makes a version with ichiban-ko (second milling) flour that has a stronger buckwheat flavor.

Not unlike most noodle shops, Kotohiraserves its splendid handmade udon with familiar assorted toppings (egg, tempura, wakame, etc.). But purists say the best way to appreciate the ethereal flavor and silky resiliency of noodle-master Masahiro Noguchi’s sumptuous hand-formed strands is in a plain kake-jiru (broth), or served cold on a mat with tsuke-jiru, the customary cold noodle dipping sauce. Noodle mavens are gaga over the authenticity of Noguchi’s style.

If you can’t always drive to Gardena for the ultimate sarashina noodle, or handcrafted udon, these shops also do an excellent job. Kagetsu-an: The best house-made soba in Little Tokyo. Nishiki: High-quality house-made udons flavored with parsley, sesame, spinach and tomato; very unusual. Sanuki No Sato: A favorite of Honda employees in Gardena and said to be adored by Hideo Nomo; udon-suki, a cook-your-own affair in a hot pot is a must-try here. Taiko: Popular Westside spot for excellent machine-made soba and udon; makes soba for Matsuhisa’s Ubon. Ubon: Imports a wonderful chewy udon from Japan, and serves soba from Taiko. Recharge after shopping the Beverly Center. Yabu: Delicate handmade soba (spinach and regular), and topnotch kitchen skills when it comes to its other foods, put Yabu at the top of the list.

Vietnamese Noodles

Many Vietnamese restaurateurs offer noodle specialties from the country’s three distinct culinary regions, giving us Vietnamese-noodle freaks a chance to taste it all under one roof. Pho, skinny, fresh rice noodles originating as a northern specialty, traveled south to Saigon around 1954, along with refugees fleeing the communists. Now it’s ubiquitous. Pho ga, the chicken version of the more famous beef-laden soup, makes a delicious change.

Bun bo hue, an intense red chile — sparked bowl of rich pork-and-beef broth swimming with thick, round rice noodles, is the central region’s mainstay. Like pho, it’s served with platters of fresh mints, basils, cilantro and other herbs, fresh limes, half a dozen chile preparations, and evil-smelling sauces with which you may get as daringly creative as whim dictates. Coagulated blood squares, a favorite bun bo Hue garnish, only show up in hardcore, authentic places such as Thanh Vi in Little Saigon.

The Southern specialty, hieu tieu, slippery, glassy vegetable-starch noodles that’re sometimes misnamed rice noodles, can also be found at pho houses. Typically, hieu tieu is at home with the plentiful seafood of the South’s long coastline, although it’s served with other proteins, too. Dishes such as hu tiu tom cua thit (shrimp, crabmeat and sliced pork in soup) with the slithery noodles, or hu tiu ca (catfish in soup) with noodles, are on the long list of possibilities.

You’ll inevitably see a mi section on most Vietnamese menus. Mi are simply the skinny, Chinese-style egg noodles that are a holdover from years of Chinese attempted domination. If termed mi nuoc, the noodles will be in soup; if mi xao, they’ll be stir-fried. Both versions will have Vietnamese flavorings. Fresh banh hoi, the thinnest possible rice noodle formed into little hand-size mats, is a relative newcomer on Vietnamese menus. Used in the manner of a tortilla, they become wrappers for whatever — grilled meats, meatballs, garlic-grilled shrimp — along with bits of freshly torn herbs.

Among the best restaurants to munch your way through an encyclopedic Vietnamese-noodle tour are Noodle City, Pho Nguyen Hoang, My Trang, Pho So 1, Pho Vietnam and the Alhambra branch of Pho 79.

Korean Noodles

Korea’s noodle culture may once have been linked to China (a few places around Koreatown still make hand-thrown mein), but it has evolved into something completely original. In supermarkets you see yardlong packages of sweet potato–starch tang myun noodles, and the buckwheat/potato-starch noodles naeng myun, usually served cold. Kang Seo Myun Oak, a smaller relative of a well-known restaurant in Korea, ã specializes in Kang Seo naeng myun cold, a slightly chewy version from Korea’s northwest, served in a mild kimchee-water broth. A visit to Keum Da Rae will give one an overview in a color-photographed menu of the many true Korean noodles and Japanese-favorite noodle dishes Koreans have adapted. The best thing to order here, however, is the hwe naeng myun, clear potato-starch noodles with skate wing in a pungent, sweet, garlicky sauce. For some of Koreatown’s best khal kooksoo (a.k.a knife noodles), the tender, rolled and hand-cut wheat noodles served in chicken broth that are the Korean equivalent of Jewish penicillin, visit Olympic Noodle. The shop, on the fringes of K-town, serves many more versions than most places, including bibim kooksu, slathered with a blazing sweet-hot bean sauce.