Noodles are a type of food made from unleavened dough which is either rolled flat and cut, stretched, or extruded, into long strips or strings.

[3] The earliest written record of noodles is found in a book dated to the Eastern Han period (25–220 CE).

[1] In 2005, a team of archaeologists reported finding an earthenware bowl that contained 4,000-year-old noodles at the Lajia archaeological site.

[5] Analyzing the husk phytoliths and starch grains present in the sediment associated with the noodles, they were identified as millet belonging to Panicum miliaceum and Setaria italica.

[6] The general consensus among food historians is that pasta originated somewhere in the Mediterranean region:[7] a homogenous mixture of flour and water called itrion was described by 2nd-century Greek physician Galen,[8] among 3rd to 5th-century Jews itrium was described by the Jerusalem Talmud[9] and itriyya (Arabic cognate of the Greek word), referred to string-like shapes made of semolina and dried before cooking - as defined by the 9th-century physician and lexicographer Isho bar Ali.

Innovations continued, such as noodles made with buckwheat (naengmyeon) were developed in the Joseon Dynasty of Korea (1392–1897).

Ash reshteh (noodles in thick soup with herbs) is one of the most popular dishes in some middle eastern countries such as Iran.

Modern historians do not give much credibility to the story and rather believe the first noodles were imported earlier from the Arabs, in a form called rishta.

It referred to a small soup noodle, of Greek origin, prepared by twisting bits of kneaded dough into shape, resembling Italian orzo.

The diary of a young Jewish girl from Łódź recounts a fight she had with her father over a spoonful of zacierki taken from the family's meager supply of 200 grams a week.