---
title: 'I Tested The World''s Best Noodles'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=6PEQkEDv_AU'
video_id: '6PEQkEDv_AU'
date: 2026-07-21
duration_sec: 1446
channel: 'Joshua Weissman'
---

# I Tested The World's Best Noodles

> Source: [I Tested The World's Best Noodles](https://youtube.com/watch?v=6PEQkEDv_AU)

## Summary

This video follows a host traveling across Asia to taste and rank the top 10 most popular noodle dishes, exploring their cultural significance and unique flavors. From Biang Biang noodles in Xi'an to Pad Thai in Bangkok, each dish is evaluated for taste, texture, and authenticity.

### Key Points

- **Introduction to Noodle Quest** [00:00] — Noodles are a cultural symbol of luck and longevity. The host travels across Asia to find the best noodle dish.
- **Biang Biang Noodles in Xi'an** [00:27] — Biang Biang noodles are the grandfather of noodles, known for being stretched and slapped. They are perfectly tender and chewy, with a sweet and spicy sauce.
- **Chow Mein in Xi'an Night Market** [02:31] — Chow Mein is a simple, fried noodle dish with egg, often enjoyed as fast food. It delivers consistent flavor and is not meant to be gourmet.
- **Dan Dan Noodles in Chengdu** [04:06] — Dan Dan noodles feature Sichuan peppercorn for numbing spice. The dish is almost dry but emulsifies as eaten, with a strong Sichuan fragrance.
- **Zhajiangmian in Beijing** [06:10] — Zhajiangmian uses fermented bean paste with deeply flavored oil, served with cucumber, turnip, and green onion. It's a warm, home-style dish.
- **Pad Thai in Bangkok with Mark Wiens** [07:21] — Pad Thai originated in the 1930s to reduce rice consumption. The host tries two versions: Pad Thai Hor Kai (with egg skin) and traditional. It's sweet, sour, and savory.
- **Pho in Vietnam** [09:55] — Pho from a home kitchen in Vietnam has a clear, clean broth with perfectly salted beef. The noodles are slightly overcooked but absorb the broth well.
- **Japchae in Korea** [12:36] — Japchae is a sweet potato noodle dish, tried as street food and in a restaurant. The street version is more affordable and better tasting.
- **Assam Laksa in Malaysia** [14:08] — Assam laksa is a sour fish-based broth with sardines, greens, and fruit. It has a unique umami seafood flavor with a sour kick.
- **Ramen Showdown in Tokyo** [16:29] — The host compares Ichiran (tonkotsu ramen), a Michelin-starred shoyu ramen, and tsukemen (dipping noodles). Ichiran is preferred for its firm noodles and rich broth.
- **Udon and Yakisoba in Japan** [20:41] — Udon has outrageously flavorful broth. Yakisoba, a stir-fried noodle dish, is starchy and perfectly seasoned, evoking strong nostalgia.
- **Final Verdict** [23:13] — The favorite noodle is Biang Biang noodles from Xi'an, but the host acknowledges that taste is subjective. The list of great noodle dishes is extensive.

### Conclusion

The host concludes that Biang Biang noodles are the best, but emphasizes that personal preference matters. The journey highlights the diversity and cultural importance of noodles across Asia.

## Transcript

noodles have been at the heart of countless cultures. even a symbol of luck and longevity. But with so many legendary versions, which one is the best?
So today I'm traveling across Asia to try the top 10 most popular noodle to see if they actually earn their spot. We are starting things off in Xi'an, China, the birthplace of noodles.
travel expert, We're taking you to some places that are hidden gems, What matters is that they make the highest quality noodles possible and that
And we're starting with arguably the grandfather of all... And they're called that for a specific reason. when it's stretched and slapped against the table properly.
Oh, man! This is cooked to perfection. That's the biggest thing I've ever put in my mouth. There's a lot of sweetness here.
The very first thing I notice is the presence of the noodle. Perfectly tender, yet perfectly chewy. I don't want anything to be any less... than this.
is meant to carry the sauce. It's 100% the main character in this dish! But this is the perfect heat level.
You don't want to stop. It's fast food. You make it fast, you eat it fast. It's kind of like the ancient Chinese drive-through.
you see a guy making it on the side of the road, and it's absolutely freaking fabulous! This is setting a tough bar because now everything after this kind of has
And that's what we're here to find out. These noodles aren't on the top 10 of the list that we're following. almost everything we're about to eat.
who let us into the kitchen to see how their magic is done. but look at the speed for the torn noodle version! And Eyal got us kicked out.
which is located in the night market streets of Xi'an: Chow Mein. There is always an egg inside.
and it's always fried. We're not drunk right now, We'll probably have to come back for another one.
Oh, yeah! Before you even say anything, China in different versions. There's cumin in this, I think it's great. I can eat so many of those.
It's just something that delivers every single time you get it; but you will get a massive plate of chewy noodles that are lightly spiced. A lot of people love to, like, look down upon this dish.
It's not meant to be the greatest noodle dish you'll ever have. It's like when you eat toast with a little bit of butter. And you're like, "Oh, wait a minute, I love this!" Simple,
And apparently they told our street vendor my thoughts on he put me to the test. I'm not one to back down from a challenge, And all of a sudden, now that I'm having to perform this,
Will my noodles be able to compare to his? We love him and his noodles, but now we move on. Now we're moving away from Xi'an and headed to Chengdu in the
home to the Sichuan peppercorn known for its numbing properties, Now, So let's see where traditional Dan Dan lands.
This is not the kind of spot that you'll see tourists, One of my favorite things about China is if you show up anywhere especially if you're taking pictures of stuff,
This is Dan Dan Noodles, very much like boat noodles in Thailand. It's the vessel, not the noodle. On one end, there's the pot;
Dan Dan was sort of the nickname for that pole that people were And if you just need a quick fix, that's what you get. Places like this are harder and harder to find.
I'm very curious to know what you're gonna think about it. This is fantastic. Sorry, I'm like It's got, like, all of the incredibly deep,
rich Sichuan pepper flavors, incredibly strong, numbing spice. It's kind of almost dry in a way, and then it emulsifies as you eat it. So these noodles are like a little bit more like a—not quite wide noodle,
It's not an elastic chew like some of the other noodles that we've had. closer to almost a pasta-like chew. It's not gonna be like the typical in-your-face chili oil noodle,
super salty and super umami. Instead, You're getting an emphasis on not just saltiness, amount of Sichuan chili flake.
You're getting a strong Sichuan fragrance, perfume in your mouth, I think it makes sense to be served small like this. and I hope that it stays around for years and years to come.
So if you're out there and thinking of doing it, What? Take that anyway you want. Onto our final stop in China where we're trying Zhajiangmian,
This is a fermented bean paste with a very deeply flavored oil. So the oil goes in, that gets mixed, then the paste that gets mixed in. Cucumber, turnip, almost like watermelon radish,
There's also celery and green onion. That's kind of the vibe. It's very warm, very home-style cooking, and it's very much Beijing.
Yeah, I'm with you completely. The oil, the sauce, you've got bits of saltiness. I like it.
if I'm being honest. I think that the quality and the chew in these That said, it's still delicious. and we're going to go and uncover that.
where we're joined by the legendary Mark Wiens to get what just may And so we're at Pad Thai Thipsamai. in Thailand, maybe in the world.
It originated in the 1930s. and the government wanted to come up with ways to reduce the consumption of rice. This also became the first ambassador of Thai food around the world.
So we're getting two variants: Pad Thai Hor Kai, And then the more traditional original version, Wider noodle. Let's try it!
Mark Wiens was also playing in the background. And let's start with the egg version. It's, like, shockingly sweet. This has depth.
You just take a bite and you get this, like, almost umami seafood flavor. The egg skin to this, like, really makes it. We'll go to the non-egg skin, simpler version.
They're, like, a little less chewy. It's not so leveling out the sweetness.
Pretty much every dish in Thailand, it's always a balance of sweet, sour, In pretty much every Thai restaurant that you would go to, pickled chilies in vinegar.
Depending on your own personal taste, it's super common to just, like, You want it more spicy, add the chili flakes. Cheers... Oh, my God!
because you can kind of season it to your taste. and the depth of flavor is already where it needs to be. because they're customizable.
original flavor from the chef. the mentality is they want to eat noodles because they can make And that's one of the great things about noodles in Thailand.
I'll be honest with you: this is my first Pad Thai in Thailand, So this raises the bar so substantially that now it's in "...this actually might be one of the best noodle dishes in the world."
Next up, we travel to Vietnam, where we're met with a crazy contrast. We just ate at one of the most popular, but our next spot is quite possibly the most unassuming place
Eyal is taking me to somebody's house. I was delighted and shocked. I almost felt nervous being here, like I was intruding,
Eating in a situation like this usually means you're gonna have a good meal. Pho started around here in the north during the division of Vietnam—we're
and then that's what caused Pho to spread. But this spot specifically, I've been coming here for so many years, It's only open for four hours a day, so it's kind of like an afternoon snack.
So this broth is way more clear than any of the other broths I've seen. I'm like concerned. There's no color. But I haven't tried it yet, so I'm excited.
There was no like, "Hey, what would you like?" It was like, so enjoy that, I guess. So... It's, like, so clean, perfectly salted.
it's as present as it should be, and yet it is so clean and just subtle and nice. So this is pickled chilies, there's sugar, salt, vinegar.
You can break it if you want, you don't have to. Everything I had before back home in America is clearly, This is actually properly boiled.
with unbelievable technique, You have to pay so much attention to it. These noodles are a little more cooked than I would like them personally.
they wouldn't have absorbed this incredible broth. That's the thing about pho like this. There's only two variables: the beef and the noodles.
The flavors are really direct. It's just this, like, clean flavor, this very singular... And I think that kind of encapsulates what pho is.
When it's cold, you have it. It's going to be tough to move on from here, Traditionally,
But despite that, So in theory, it could be punching far above its weight. we'll be tasting it in two different settings: as a side
I love the fact that this guy is tossing this in a hot pan with his hands, Japchae when eaten traditionally,
a family and you share that set. So you eat a street version of this. Great drunk food! I would have wanted...
Makes me want to take my pants off. Think about the value for a second. $4! let alone a beautiful bowl of japchae.
the two different types of onion that are in it, I like this a lot. It's very satisfying to eat. I like it so much, I want to give it more credit.
So we've had the street version. But how good is it in a restaurant? It was clear that it was meant to be more of an accompaniment to
The street japchae was more affordable, better tasting, and faster to get. It was tough to nail down the exact country we needed to go to,
and he steered our ship towards his home country of Malaysia. we ended up with what is titled Penang Road Famous Laksa.
This laksa is actually a broth made from fish. One thing that's different when you use sardines is the So apart from that, you've got a lot of greens there,
Assam laksa is different than the laksa you would have imagined because it you have two different kind of fruit that goes into this: one is this thing And this is what gives it the very distinct sour flavor.
I tried a piece of that dried fruit and it's like biting into a lemon, This could go one of two directions. It's either absolutely incredible, or it's not good at all.
Sort of sour, acidic-leaning. Little tiny, tiny, tiny bit of heat in the background. It's just this, like, umami, rich seafood flavor.
What is this? Direct translation is "The Brain of Prawn". Me being local, I can go as much as I can.
I wasn't expecting it to be sweet like that. it adds funk, but not in the direction of salt, They're a very thick rice noodle.
chewy texture without it taking away from all the nice crunch from the raw onion. This is unlike anything I've ever had before. It's almost reminiscent of, like, a minestrone and a tom yum,
weird because neither of those ingredients are in this dish, A lot of brothy noodles... It's becoming a little bit more acidic because it's becoming more concentrated.
you want to go back for another bite and another bite and another bite, "What the fuck!". Really, really, really phenomenal. Now we move on to Tokyo, Japan, and we have a competition on our hands.
a showdown to find our favorite. After that, but let's hit our first stop in the streets of Shibuya: one And a lot of people say that it's overrated,
you get the tickets, you circle your preferences, They seat you at your own private booth. You actually can't even see your server.
or can this chain live up to the hype? Insane! I know there are many ramen places around, but immediately,
The noodles are so fine yet firm... They're rich, savory, umami. The one key thing here...
I'd be sad because I would have eaten all of them before I had all the broth. I think firm is the way to go. and then like the sort of "stick to your teeth" like glutinous chew
so they're not diminishing the flavor of the broth as you eat them. Next up in our ramen showdown, we are trying shoyu ramen in the first ramen spot to ever get a Michelin star.
It's definitely a bit more refined. It's really... they take it very, very seriously here. It's so beautiful. The broth...
The noodles are what I'm really excited about here. Whoa! Yeah, the noodles are... So these are like totally different than the noodles that we had
I would say that this is kind of like the texture that you So it's like it's very, very easy to overcook this, The firmness is there, it's al dente.
It's almost less starchy, it's more fresh. Easily worth a Michelin star. But is it the best ramen we're going to have comparatively to Ichiran?
I thought it was seasoned a little bit more aggressively. But if we're comparing the two, I preferred my experience at Ichiran. Ichiran is in the lead in our ramen showdown.
We're at Rokurinsha. Which It's worth noting it was invented in the 1950s or the 1960s. This place is known for being the first place that pioneered
very important spot and I'm glad we're trying this. and then you have essentially a condensed ramen soup. So we have our prepared base.
You want to heat up the noodles in this, but also soak them in that broth. So the noodles are cold, but the broth is so hot.
the noodles go from cold to the perfect temperature. And the broth is so reduced that it coats the noodles almost like a sauce. So it gives everything just like really strong,
Fatty, but it's not too fatty. but also like the little back-notes of seafood. You can put a little bit of what smells like dried yuzu peel.
the eating experience is changing while you're eating the dish. you may be eating something completely different by the they're like the chewiest noodles we've had so far in the best way possible.
really hit the mark texturally. Honestly, between tsukemen and tonkotsu, I just can't decide either way. Onto the next place, which is an udon spot in Tokyo.
outrageously flavorful broth, So good! I drank it straight out of the bowl. But I don't know that it's the favorite out of everything...
Japan. and this is a very, very basic one. All it is is a basic dish cooked on a flat-top.
and I'm gonna be honest with you guys: if I see a line, It better be worth the hype. This originates in the 1930s, '40s. It was all...
they were really trying this is not buckwheat noodles. This is wheat. So this is based on chow mein,
This place is maybe the most popular one in Osaka. they have their own take on it. We have katsuobushi shaved on top.
They just threw it on here to keep it hot, I guess. Okay, let's do it. This is crazy good!
A lot of Japanese people, you ask them, "Where's your favorite yakisoba?", People have like very strong, nostalgic feelings about this dish. and I was like, "All this for yakisoba? Like, come on.
God, the texture of the noodles, they're starchy. It is perfectly seasoned. It's so goddamn good.
I'm eating something, and ultimately, how delicious was the item that I ate? It's whatever, but it's still a traditional dish. And there's so many textures.
There's so many layers This has been a lot of traveling to find a favorite noodle. But I have to say thank you to Eyal, the man who made this possible.
If there's one thing that I think should be your takeaway from this Traveling changes your perspective on life. you will experience... amazing things.
And I think we've experienced some quite amazing noodles on this trip. He's made guides so that anyone can kind of follow what we follow today. more importantly, let's talk about the favorite noodles.
There was one that really stood out, and it was the Biang Biang noodles by far. but that's what I like the most. God damn it! the best. It comes down to your own personal taste.
So that goes to show that the list of great noodle dishes is far longer So subscribe, and I'll see you next time.