ABSTRACT
Western pasta and Asian noodles are nonleavened products manufactured from durum semolina and soft wheat our, respectively. The Italian pasta, widely consumed in Europe and America, still dominates the world market, although Asian noodles have increased sales during the past years. Oriental noodles, also known as Chinese or Japanese noodles, have traditionally been staple for Asian countries for more than 1,000 years. Asian noodles are usually made from common wheat our using a process of sheeting and cutting, as opposed to pasta products that are generally cold-extruded using durum semolina. Asian noodles are usually softer but more elastic and range from white to creamy white to moderately yellow in appearance. Asian noodles are alternatively produced from other cereals such as rice.
