Where do noodles come from?

Noodles most likely originated in China, which is where the earliest archaeological record of the food comes from. In 2002, an earthenware bowl was found near the Yellow River that contained fossilized remains of millet-flour noodles that were over 4,000 years old.

China also produced the first written record of noodles. A dictionary from the third century A.D. contains an entry for mian pan, a type of noodle made from bread dough and shaped by hand. Another record of noodles comes from the Jerusalem Talmud in the 5th century A.D. This account describes a type of boiled dough that was shaped into various forms.