What's your favourite kind of noodle? ⏲️ 6 Minute English

54,907 views ・ 2025-05-29

BBC Learning English


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00:07
Hello, this is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I'm Neil.
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And I'm Beth.
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Do you enjoy eating noodles, Beth?
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I love noodles, yes.
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I think my favourite are udon – the big thick ones.
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Mmm, they're so good!
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Well, some people buy them dried in a packet,
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others make them fresh from wheat or rice,
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but there is little doubt that noodles are popular around the world.
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From their origins, probably somewhere in China,
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noodle recipes were spread by traders on the ancient Silk Road.
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At each destination along the road, people gave noodles a twist,
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adding different flavours and ingredients to create a new dish.
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In this programme, we'll visit the United States and Japan,
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two countries which have taken noodles and created exciting new varieties.
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As usual, we'll learn some useful new vocabulary
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and remember – you can read along with the transcript of this programme,
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available now on our website, bbclearningenglish.com
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But first, Neil, I have a question for you.
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As well as different shapes and ingredients,
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noodles come in many different flavours.
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So, which region of China is famous for its spicy flavours?
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Is it: a) Shanghai, b) Sichuan, or c) Guangzhou?
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Well, I think actually, Beth, I know the answer to this.
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I've been lucky enough to have been to this place.
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I think it's b) Sichuan.
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OK. Well, you sound confident.
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I will reveal the answer later in the programme.
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BBC World Service programme, The Food Chain,
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investigated how noodles spread from Asia through Europe to America.
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They uncovered a surprising story that pasta comes
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from noodles brought back to Italy by Marco Polo in the 13th century.
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02:01
Jen Lin-Liu, author of the book,
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On the Noodle Road, doesn't believe this story.
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So, noodles were very exotic in the 1920s and 30s in the United States,
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and there was a new pasta association in America
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that wanted to promote the manufacturing of dried pasta.
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And so they came up with a story
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about how Marco Polo went to China
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and found the noodle there,
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and brought it all the way to Italy.
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In the 1920s, noodles were popular because they were exotic,
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meaning foreign, unusual and exciting.
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At that time, pasta companies were promoting a new invention, dried pasta,
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so they came up with a story about Marco Polo to sell more pasta.
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If you come up with something you suggest or think up an idea.
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And it worked – sales of pasta jumped as a result!
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Now, our second destination, Japan, also has a history of eating noodles.
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One of the most famous Japanese noodle dishes is ramen,
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and Frank Striegl, a blogger living in Tokyo, knows all about it.
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He eats over 300 bowls of ramen a year!
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He explained to BBC World Service's The Food Chain how Chinese immigrants
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to Japan in the late 1800s influenced this Japanese dish.
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And at one point or another, different chefs decided to localise these dishes.
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They said, We love these Chinese noodle dishes.
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However, why don't we tweak them?
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Why don't we make them a little bit more Japanese?
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Frank says that at one point or another, chefs started to make
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noodle dishes more Japanese.
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Here, the phrase, at one point or another,
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means at some unspecified time in the past.
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They did this by tweaking Chinese noodles – in other words,
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by changing them slightly to make them better, different,
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or in this case, more Japanese.
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By making these tweaks, adding new toppings and slices of beef or chicken,
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Japanese chefs created the noodle dish we know today as ramen.
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Here's Frank Striegl again, talking with BBC World Service's The Food Chain.
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And what I find fascinating about ramen,
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compared to perhaps other wonderful noodle dishes around the world,
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is that ramen continues to evolve.
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Unlike other Japanese foods, it's OK to push the boundaries.
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Frank thinks that Japanese ramen continues to evolve –
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to develop and change gradually
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in response to new developments and ideas.
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Unlike other traditional foods such as sushi,
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modern versions of ramen push the boundaries.
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If you push the boundaries,
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you act in a way which challenges normal, acceptable behaviour.
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Yes, noodles have changed so much since ancient times
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that today you can buy them dried in a packet and simply add hot water.
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But the flavours and the noodles themselves maintain a link to the past.
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Now, speaking of flavours, what was the answer to your question, Beth?
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Well, I asked you which region of China is famous for its spicy flavours.
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You were very confident with saying Sichuan and that is the correct answer.
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Sichuan is a place that is famous for spicy food,
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such as the Sichuan pepper and Sichuan hotpot.
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OK. It's time to recap the vocabulary we've learnt.
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If you give something a twist,
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you change it in some small way to create something new and exciting.
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The adjective exotic means unusual and exciting
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because of coming from far away.
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The phrase at one point or another means at some unspecified time in the past.
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If you tweak something, you alter it slightly in order to improve it.
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Something which evolves, develops and changes gradually.
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And finally, the idiom to push the boundaries
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means to do things which challenge normal, acceptable behaviour.
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Once again, our six minutes are up.
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If you enjoyed the programme, why not visit our website and check out all
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of the different podcasts that we have at BBC Learning English.
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06:03
There's something there for everyone.
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Thanks for joining us and goodbye. Bye!
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