My son is 25 and a pretty adept cook. His explorations have brought him to focus on Asian noodles. A massive topic of course. But I asked his girlfriend what he might like for a Christmas present. She mentioned the noodle cooking.
I don’t know if his emphasis leans Chinese or more Southeastern Asia. I should add that he lives in Indiana and therefore has little or no access to the fresh herbs that make Vietnamese so special. For Thai, he can secure galangal and lemongrass and makrut leaves frozen.
I was thinking of picking a nice book, maybe enrolling him in some high-quality mail-in noodles, or…?
Just an idea which includes asian noodles but also goes beyond - what about the Wok cookbook from Kenji Lopez Alt which also includes noodle recipes but also other stir-fries, braised etc and a wok from the wok shop in SF
I’d suggest picking a selection of different noodles from there (rice of different thicknesses, wheat, mung bean, sweet potato, plus plain old angel hair and fettuccine to illustrate fungibility), with an easy book or two like Milk Street Noodles and the Woks of Life Cookbook for accessible recipes.
Ages ago, ATK iirc illustrated that a large non stick pan is more effective on most home stoves than a wok, so you could add a 10” or 12” nonstick or carbon steel pan (unless he has a cast iron fry pan already).
You could add a note with some reliable online sources for different regional recipes, so he can delve in further or check the book recipes against them.
It’s older, But Nina Simonds has a small cookbook called Asian Noodles that has a good variety of dishes from across East and Southeast Asian cuisines, that might be a nice start. The Eat Your Books index shows the range of recipes.
I was going to suggest, along similar lines to Saregama, that if you have access, include a selection of noodles, especially ones that are harder to source without cuisine-specific or very large Asian groceries.
If he’s in NW Indiana, there’s Chicago, a couple of Chinatowns and a Korean town, and H mart and a bunch of stores.
I’d try and find out what kind of Asian noodles because there’s a lot from different cultures; Chinese, ramen, pho…etc.
I’m a fan of Kenji….but the wok book might scare him, or love it. It’s a massive book, and yes he’s OCD. Maybe a video instructional subscription like Cooking with Lau LINK but it’s not specifically noodles. But they know what they’re doing, James Beard winner, etc
Does he like cookbooks, or does he mostly do on-line recipes? What about a selection of sauce ingredients and condiments? Gochujang, chili crisp, fish sauce, Fly by Jing things, thai curry paste, etc. Fried shallots and cashews to throw on top? Even if you duplicate things he has, he’ll run out some day.
If you know if his interest centres around stir fry type recipes or soupy recipes, you could plan accordingly. For stir fries, maybe a nice cleaver and cooking vessel (nonstick pan or wok) and some different varieties of noodles used in stir fries? For soupy noodles, maybe some nice ramen or pho kits? Or a pressure cooker to make broths in? Again, the varieties of noodles used in soupy preps. I have an Asian mini market nearby that carries at least a hundred different varieties of dried noodles - I could happily make up a hamper for an Asian noodle enthusiast from there!
