Tribal People Try Noodles

Noodles cover a lot of ground: Chinese chow mein, Thai pad thai, Vietnamese pho, Japanese udon. Most are wheat or rice, stir-fried or in broth, and seasoned with soy, fish sauce or sesame rather than ground spices.

Soy sauce is the new taste — salty, dark, slightly fermented. Stir-fried noodles feel familiar; brothy ones served in a bowl with chopsticks are the harder sell because the village eats with the right hand and bread.

Chow mein has been sold at Pakistani weddings and street stalls for decades, so it is rarely the shock the camera hopes for. The comparison is almost always to that wedding chow mein.

If you cook it: High heat, small batches, and the sauce goes in at the very end.