What Country Makes The Best Noodles in Asia?

What's the best Asian noodle dish? Let's talk about that. Good Mythical Morning. We're about to taste some of the best noodle dishes. around the world. Yes. But first, this portion of today's episode. is sponsored by AG1, a daily drinkable scoop. of vitamins, minerals, probiotics, and whole-food sourced ingredients in one. You've already heard about. how AG1 helps build strong morning routines,

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Now, today is International Noodle Day. A day held every year. to celebrate noodles from around the world. And what better way to kick off our three day. Best Noodles in the World Competition. That's right, three days of noods. Did you, you almost said, "Please clap.". I could hear it. It was a nonverbal "Please clap.". Thank you for your support.

We are starting today with a region of the world. that has perhaps the most wildly diverse range. of noodle dishes: Asia. Specifically East and Southeast Asia. Woo! We want, that's right. David's in the house. We wanted to do the whole continent, but this show can only be so long. because you got places to be. Mm hm, so let's get the fun started. It is time for "We All Slurp in the Same Language.". Day one, Asian Noodle Dish Competition. Okay, boys, due to the sheer amount.

of Asian noodle dishes out there, we actually polled the Mythical Beasts on their favorites. in order to find our finalists today, starting off we have ramen from Japan. Taste it, rate it one to 10, and then at the end, you're gonna get a chance. to try your top three. I wanna say thank you to whoever heard me complain. about smooth sticks and gave me rough sticks. I was noticing the roughness of these sticks. and I was liking it. I love a rough stick. But I didn't know it was. because you complained. Just splattered in my eye. with your rough stick. Okay. Well, that's because it's so rough,

it just sends stuff up. Can I say they are a little long though. They're rough, but they're a little too long. Mm. We're gonna be eating a lot. But it's okay. Yeah, take some of that. You wanna... I'm making a mess. Hmm. Sharing ramen in a bowl with somebody. You know the word ramen comes from a Chinese word. meaning pulled noodles. I knew that.

One to 10? Boy, it's really good. How could it not. just be a 10? Because it's not just the noodles, it's the whole dish. It's the way the noodles come. They come with pork, broth, other things. And then it's so ubiquitous. I mean, it's been put into all types of packages. as you can just pull off the shelf and take camping. Or in desperate collegiate situations. I will say that the noodles themselves, they're a great, like, canvas for a lot of things, but they're not, it's not the greatest noodle in the world. I'm not gonna give it a 10. I like it because the diameter of the noodle is small.

I'm gonna give it an eight. I don't wanna get, you know, out over my skis. I'm going for a nine unapologetically. Onto pad Thai from Thailand. Uh huh. It's right in the name, pad Thai from Thailand. Did you have pad Thai when you were in Thailand? I did, but I don't... It wasn't rememorable.

Rememorable. I don't really remember-able it. Dude, I love some pad Thai. I kind of forgot about all the noodle dishes. that could exist. I feel like I, I almost feel like I wanna revise my ramen score, because I forgot how much I like pad Thai. Break 10 if you got to. Very good flat noodle. I love most any dish. that they're sprinkling nuts over the top of. I think I forgot how much I like a noodle. that's not in a broth.

I hate to say it. Really? I know that broth brings a lot to a lot of people, but I think I just want, I just wanna get at the noodles. and I want it to be about the noodles. and maybe some chicken and some other stuff. I love this. I'm not gonna go to 11. I'm gonna go to a nine. It's not my favorite taste. I'm gonna, I have to stay at like six. Next up we have pho.

Ooh, now. From Vietnam. From Vietnam. I was concentrating on saying pho. Pho. Pho. I like pho. It does make me think about the times I've been sick. Because you order pho? I get pho when I get sick. I know it's got rare beef in it, which I'm gonna kind of dodge. You literally cook the beef with the broth. And I'm anti cooking things in front of me. You're anti cooking things, period. Yeah, behind me.

Wherever. You don't like cooking. But I don't like to go to a restaurant where you cook. You don't like KBBQ? No. He doesn't. He doesn't like it. I like the taste of it, but I'd like for someone else to make it. I'm not paying to make it. To where mission, can I come in your place. and just go back into the kitchen. and start rigamaroling around. and then, no, just gimme the food. So, where do you sit when your family goes out. to eat KBBQ 'cause I know they do.

In the car. Yeah, you just stay at home. for that one? He stays in the car. Just bring me a box. He stays in the car playing his Game boy. But this right. That's what he does. You've seen Link in his car with a Game Boy. I acknowledge that this is a very light version. of cooking in front of me. It's so unique. It's got so many unique flavors coming together, you know? It's just a stretch for me. It's a stretch for me. It's kind of a void. Do you order pho ever?

Yes. Silence. I know you're not, I know you're not talking to me, so I'm not gonna answer. Yes. Well 'cause I, there's a bunch of different types of pho, and you like, I get the chicken kind, which some people don't respect, but. Yeah, I don't respect that. Okay. Well, then, that's ultimately what I was getting at. Jessie gets the chicken kind as well. And I tell her I don't respect that to her face. Well, because then, Link, you don't have to watch anything being cooked. in front of you, 'cause that's not how it's done with, it's just like a really healthy, nice chicken soup. But I don't love the taste.

He also, he also... It's just not. He also doesn't love the taste. I mean, I don't hate it, but-. I don't like it as much as pad Thai. I just have to give it a four. And I'm sorry, but that's a, that's generous for me. I'm taking into account that I'm-. What the pho? I know, I'm the one who's not enlightened here. What the pho, man? I know it's my problem, but it's also my taste. It's not for everybody. It's just not.

I'm not gonna go crazy here. I'm gonna give it a seven. Next up, we have lo mein from China. Lo mein. You know, I always feel like. if you upgrade to lo mein from fried rice as your side, it feels so indulgent, doesn't it? Mm hm. Just a power move and I like that. What's the difference between lo mein. and chow mein, Nicole? So in Cantonese, lo means mixed. and chow means fried.

And so, the chow mein's gonna be a little bit more. stir fry-ee, a little bit drier. And then your lo mein's gonna be a little saucier. The ease with which you can eat this. is, again, the thing that I like about it. Yeah, it's easy to eat. It's a nice side if you're in an express mode, you know, working with the panda. Right, mm hm. And it's got meat, it's got veggies. What's that green thing? Peas. Snow peas, snap peas. I mean, sweet peas. I call that a snow pea. Yeah.

I'm gonna give it an eight. Again, I like a lot of these right around, like, they're, nothing's perfect, but I like 'em all in this seven to nine range so far. Yeah. I'm gonna stay in the range. I'm gonna seven it. We're moving on to Filipino spaghetti. from the Philippines. You ever had this? I haven't, but it looks, I mean, I don't know anything about this. I haven't had it, but it looks like something. I would've made for myself in high school,

which is spaghetti with like hot dogs. and then cheese on top? Yeah, and then there's also some ground beef. in there too. And a very sugary tomato-y sauce. I'm gonna use a fork for it. because I know that they serve this at a lot of like, fast food places around here, like-. Jollibee? That's one of 'em. But again, I haven't had it in one of those places. I don't think I've had it at all. Oh, I wish I was using a fork.

Mm hm. Wow, that's really sweet. Super saucy. Is it true that there's banana ketchup in here? Yeah, a little bit of banana ketchup, a little bit of brown sugar, some canned tomato sauce. Wow. I wanted to like it more than I do. Yeah. It's a, I mean, it's very comfort foodish. Hmm. I know. I wanted to love it more. I just don't have a sweet tooth.

when it comes to my savory meals, you know? Yeah, I don't really either. And so, as much as I was excited about this. and it took me back to days that never even happened for me. I'm gonna give it a five. I agree. I'm at five with this one. Next you have jab chae from South Korea. Okay, this is new to me. Never heard of it. New to me. It's got these, the glass noodles, which are always interesting.

Is this a wood ear mushroom? It is. I like one of those. All types of veggies in here. Carrots, cabbage. The aforementioned wood ear, I'm gonna grab one of 'em. Now, little thing to note about this. It was originally invented in the 1600s, created as a dish for the Korean royal family. And the king was so happy with it. that he promoted the inventor of this dish to Hojo Panseo,

which is basically the Secretary of the Treasury. for the whole kingdom. So, this guy made such a good noodle dish, he got to just run the all the money stuff. And this came from a restaurant here in LA. Right, BCD Tofu House. All of these came from restaurants around here, which is one of the reasons I love LA. There's wonderful executed versions of things. that I've never even had. that I could still walk down the street and discover.

But you can also sit at this desk and discover 'em. Haha, even better than walking down the street. It's got that Korean sort of flavor profile, which is a completely different place, which I've grown to really, really like. I don't love glass noodles though, because-. But I was gonna say the same thing. The glass noodle in this quantity, there's something about it that I'm like, what makes it glass? I mean, I know the fact that it's see-through,

but like, what are they, what is it made of? I don't think there's glass in it. It's sweet potato starch noodles. Right. So sweet potato starch. And it kind of, once you cook, it goes clear. Yeah, Rhett. Just from a flavor standpoint though, just on its own, they're not the greatest noodle. And again, this is a noodle competition, Link. The lowest I've given is a four, I believe. What was that? I don't know. This is better. That was for the pho. I gotta give this a five then. I'm gonna give it a six. Something that we've done recently.

and documented for your entertainment. is planning our own funerals. Huh. Yep. Caskets, urns, celebrations of life. The whole thing. It's weird, it's fun. Yeah, it's fun. It's not sad, what we did. Fun-eral. It's a, yeah. We put the fun in funeral. Yeah, we did. From how we wanna be remembered. to what the party's gonna look like. We covered everything over on the Mythical Society. You can watch it now. And I think it's a good, approachable way.

to be educated about the decisions that we all need to make. Yes. Okay, we're going back to Japan for this one. It's udon. Udon. Udon! Udon! The thickest of noodles. Ugh Don, I can't believe you're doing that again, Don. Don, you stinker. You have such a weird sense of humor. Ooh, Don, put it away. I'm sorry if I ruined udon for you.

Look at that, boy. Look at that. Boy, it's like, it's so thick. They're so thick. I can't, I can't do it. I just can't seem to do it. Okay. Are you supposed to? I got a little one. I'm put it right there on my spoon. It's hard when this, when the bowl is way over there. Hmm. It's very noodle forward. I like the texture. It's very simple. Of the noodle. The, I'm trying to describe the broth.

Give me a word. It's... Smokey? It's umami-ish. Umami. Is it umami? I think it's umami, yeah. Very umami. That's a perfect word. There's a little bit of, there's some seaweed in there. that might be coming through that you don't like. Yeah, that's not, I, you know. I'm just a simple Westerner, you know? I am who I am and I'm not,

I'm not gloating about it certainly. Okay, but what are you doing? You're just explaining yourself. I'm just explaining myself. I love that noodle. I'd invite that noodle to a party. It's thick. I also like the noodles. I like the umami, but I don't, it's almost straight umami with nothing else challenging it. Yeah. And complimenting it. and sending it in a different direction. Yeah. And so, for me it's a five.

I wish that I would've given the pho a two, but I was too embarrassed. I felt like it made me seem... Like a simple Westerner. A simpleton. But now, I wish I would've just embraced it. because I'm gonna have to give this one the four. to tie with the pho. Okay. And finally we have dan dan noodles from China. Dan dan noodles, I love these.

Where are these from? These are from Qi Steam Kitchen. Okay. So. Haven't been there. There's a place in town. What's that place, Joy? Joy. Pine and Crane. On York. Yeah. And they- Oh wow. They do it with like a peanut. Does this have the peanut sauce in it? It's like a peanut sesame situation, yeah. Oh, yeah. The peanut butter boy's are about to get wrecked. It's so good. Sorry, sorry. I'm doing this right here. because the bowl's in front of you.

It's hard, it's hard when the bowl's over there. Yep. Mm, mm. Oh, dangit. It's so saucy. It's spicy. It's got this other stuff, I don't even know what it is. The noodles are thick. We like that. There were so many years that I, this wasn't in my life, but once it came into my life, very late, I might add. Spicy. I was never the same. I'm reading here. that it's usually the American Chinese style.

that has the sesame or peanut butter added. So, that kind of explains why-. We like it so much. This... Simple Westerner. Simple Western boy. is loving on it. Hey, I find it incredibly complex. and delicious, so, don't sell yourself so short. Okay. Thank you. You're welcome. I'm gonna do it. Whatcha gonna do? I didn't think I would. 10. You think. you're gonna 10 it? I'm giving it a 10.

I don't think a noodle dish can get better than this. I think this is, I think this is as good as noodles get. What, what, what was the best before this? Well, you're about to taste your top three. in a second. Okay. You gave Ramen a nine, I think. Well, hold on. Or a 10 or something. I'm gonna give it a nine. just because it just seems extreme to give it a 10. Well, I'm just trying not to hold back. Okay, we had a tie for third place,

a pad thai and lo mein. Oh! I didn't even, that was happening in the moment. Second place ramen. First place dan dan noodles. Get at it, boys. "Get at it," she says. Okay. So, Link, I know that the only reason that pad Thai is here. is because I liked it so much. You only gave it a six. I'm just gonna take a bite of it and throw it away. But you are gonna take a bite of it? It's so unique. And you know what, the only reason that lo mein is here.

is because we hadn't tasted, well, we had tasted this, but it-. I'm not so sure that ramen and lo mein, I don't know. I don't know. I think ramen is, it's got, you can get it so many different ways. And even if I just eat the noodle, lo mein has been relegated to just be a side. at Panda Express. You're right about that. They don't make, there's no-. Which I said in a positive way earlier. Now I'm gonna use it in a negative way. There's no low mein restaurants.

Let's go get lo mein. Let's go get ramen. Not that I know of. Are we wrong? I'm just dripping. Is this what it's like to not have a bowl? See, it's horrible. It drips all, I mean, it dropped noodles everywhere. Yeah, I'm telling you, it's horrible. All right, so we're getting rid of that too. Also, if you're wondering what's behind you, that's the nood beach. The nood beach only accommodates a certain amount of noods. So that's why you have to, you know, limit yourselves. Don't we know? Thank you, Stevie. Mm hm. That we're only gonna-. I didn't want you to be disoriented. I know sometimes you get scared.

when you don't know what's going on. I love having this bowl right under my face. Oh. It's so good. Can you not do that? Mm. I'm also here trying to have a good, that's what you get, stains on your pants. It means I've lived in 'em. I don't even think we need to keep talking. Nope. We're gonna shut up and we're gonna do that. because dan dan noodles. Dan dan! Are udon and dan dan.

What? They're the best noodles that Asia has to offer. Is that what we're saying? According to us. Yes. According to us, yeah. All right, thanks for commenting and sharing this video. Remember to come back tomorrow to watch us taste. and rank even more noodles. That time is gonna be all from Europe. Hmm. You know what time it is. Hi, I'm Mario. And I'm Brittany. And we're celebrating our honeymoon in Tokyo. And it's time to spin the Wheel of Mythicality.

Japan. I like Japan. I think I'm gonna go to Japan. I've heard so many good things about Japan that I should go. I think I will. Oh, you just made the decision right now? Yeah, I just did. Let's give some unsolicited advice. Give or get? Let's give some unsolicited advice. Okay, Mariana, we know you're watching. Mariana, are you watching? Mariana! Yes. And you are trying. to figure out if you should let your parents. move into your spare room. I would say your mom's fine. Yeah.

But not your dad, so. This is an opportunity for them to go their separate ways. And we are going to encourage you. to be the catalyst in that decision, there you go. Click the top link to watch us find out. how bad our morals are, if you didn't already know. We planned our funerals. See how we would want to be remembered in our new special. out now on mythicalsociety.com.