title: Noodle!
author: MiMi Aye
publication date: October 28, 2014
publisher: Absolute Press
The main thing I want you to take away from this book is how wonderfully versatile noodles can be – whether you’re planning a quick desk lunch, an easy weeknight meal, a weekend treat, a lavish feast or even a picnic, you’ll find the perfect noodle dish for you.
— MiMi Aye (Noodle!)
The debut cookbook from food blogger MiMi Aye is all about one of my favourite foods – noodles. Her cookbook style is light and humorous (like her blog), and the recipes, which cover a range of Asian countries, had my mouth watering!
I first ‘met’ MiMi on Twitter. I can’t remember exactly how she got my attention, but I’m sure it was a funny tweet about noodles. So I was extra excited when she announced that she had a cookbook coming out and quickly added it to my ‘must-buy’ list. Knowing the author does have it’s perks, as I was able to buy a copy from the UK (where it was released earlier this summer) and have it signed by MiMi before it was sent to me.
The book will hit North American bookshelves later this Fall.
the first nibble:
On my first pass through the book, five recipes that jumped out as ‘must try’:
- Roast Duck Noodle Soup, pg. 40
- Pork Bone Ramen, pg. 48
- Tom Yum Soup Noodles, pg. 61
- Hawaiian Noodle Soup, pg. 82
- Burmese Rainbow Salad, pg. 134
the nitty-gritty:
number of recipes (as stated by book): “100 amazing authentic recipes”
recipe list? No, but there is an Recipe Index at the back of the book
table of contents:
photography: There is roughly one photograph for every third recipe. As a noodle lover, I wish there was more, especially since the photography is stunning.
Although most of the recipes had toppings on the noodles, there was no question what ingredient was the main star of the book – the noodles were always obvious, whether peeking out from underneath or swimming in the beautiful broth – it just re-affirmed my love of noodles.
The food styling of the noodle dishes not only had me eager to try the recipes, but also itching to go out and buy some new dishware and utensils. I was drooling over those food props – normally I’m all about drinkware, but these photos had be wanting to go out and buy a whole bunch of beautiful bowls!
photo to recipe ratio*: out of 101 total recipes**, 28 recipes had at least one accompanying ‘finished dish’ photo or step-by-step photo (photo : recipe ratio = 1 : 3.6)
notes:
* this is a manual count, so numbers may be slightly off due to human error (mine)
** only ‘main’ recipes are counted – recipes that appear as part of another dish are not counted
recipes:
– separate ingredient list? yes
– serving info given? yes
– prep/cook time given? yes
– recipe format: paragraphs
Almost all the noodle dishes are Asian in origin (for obvious reasons) but MiMi does manage to ensure there’s a great variety in the collection.
Each recipe comes with it’s Anglicized name and then it’s traditional name underneath, with the country of origin included. Also, there’s a brief intro blurb with every recipe, usually giving a quick background on the origin of the dish or a personal story from MiMi.
Tom Yum Soup Noodles
The recipes are easy to follow and the ingredients are laid out nicely, grouped into sections (ie. ‘For the broth’, ‘For the garnish’, ‘To Serve’) making it easy to prepare. As with many Asian recipes though, there are quite a few ingredients for most of the recipes.
Times for both ‘to make’ and ‘to cook’ are given, so you can plan ahead.
MiMi also includes some quick recipes at the start of the book under ‘Secret Weapons’ – her “indispensible basic recipes … which really do make the difference for the recipes they feature in.” Included in this section are recipes for staples like Chilli Oil, Fried Peanuts, Tonkatsu Sauce, Vietnamese Dipping Sauce and Pickled Garlic.
the last bite:
As a lifelong noodle lover, this book is definitely going to become a fast favourite of mine. Heavy on the Burmese influence (Mimi’s own background) there are also recipes from China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Thailand…even Hawaii and Iran!
Hand-Torn Noodles
I wish there were more photographs, but the well-laid out recipes are easy on the eyes and easy to follow. Being a softcover cookbook, the glossy pages are beautiful to look at, but a little difficult to keep open flat when working in the kitchen.
All in all, definitely a good buy and a cookbook filled with many recipes that I’ll be trying soon!
MiMi was gracious enough to spend some time answering some questions for my Author Q&A series. You can read my interview with her here.
Click here to purchase Noodle! from The Book Depository (free worldwide shipping) or Amazon
Curry Laksa
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