title: Noodle Soup: Recipes, Techniques, Obsession
author:  Ken Albala 
description: <DIV>&quot;Ken Albala has spent years tossing ideas&mdash;and pretty much everything else&mdash;into a pot of water with homemade noodles rich in new flavors, textures, and colors. Now we all get to share the results. These clever, doable, delicious recipes thrill the palate and warm the soul. Let the choir sing out: soup&#39;s on!&quot;--Nathalie Dupree, PBS host and author of <I>Mastering the Art of Southern Cooking</I><BR /><BR /> &quot;<I>Noodle Soup</I> offers recipes (often engagingly free-form) and techniques, as promised, but also a fascinating history lesson. It teaches us about the oldest known noodles (from 4,000 years ago, made from millet and found in northwest China), the evolution of the word &ldquo;lasagna&rdquo; (from the Greek laganon and Latin laganum, flat sheets of dough), macaroni as fashion statement, Thomas Jefferson&rsquo;s handmade pasta, and more, citing recipes, poems, and medical treatises from the relevant eras.&quot;--<I>Boston Globe</I><BR /><BR /> &#160;</DIV>
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  **DEDICATION**
  
  for noodle girl  
  and the toad
  
   **CONTENTS**
  
    1. Dedication
    2. Foreword by Anthony Bourdain
    3. 1\. Hà Nội
    4. 2\. Bún Chả
    5. 3\. In Search of a Monster
    6. 4\. Beyond Tràng Tiền Street
    7. 5\. Food Safari
    8. 6\. Vina–land
    9. 7\. Moving Out
    10. 8\. Tết
    11. 9\. Taking the Vina-pulse
    12. 10\. Nothing Worked
    13. 11\. Poisoned
    14. 12\. Never Mind the Bollocks
    15. 13\. The Ten Commandments of Street Food
    16. 14\. I Never Remember You
    17. 15\. It’s Shit in the South
    18. 16\. Hoà Hưng Street, District 10, Sài Gòn
    19. 17\. Paperback Writer
    20. 18\. Sài Gòn
    21. 19\. Enter Hẻm Hoà Hưng Market
    22. 20\. _noodlepie_
    23. 21\. The Tape
    24. 22\. “Vietnamese Food Is Nothing Without Herbs”
    25. 23\. No Magic Ingredients
    26. 24\. Bánh Mì
    27. 25\. It’s the Chinese
    28. 26\. What a Very Civil Civil War
    29. 27\. All Vietnamese Love Bánh Cuốn
    30. 28\. Bà Sáu Bún Mắm
    31. 29\. A No