Everything related to noodles - from the long thin strips variety to those that resemble waves, strings, shells, folded over or cut into myriad shapes - from different Asian countries is at the centre of a food festival that begins here today.
The 'Noodles festival' in Hotel Ashok, will see all things noodles as part of a 3-course-meal from varied cuisines across Asia.
At an impressive price of Rs 3,000 for two, Chef Rajen Pradhan says, "The restaurant will serve 10 different varieties of noodles including yakiudon and yaki soba noodles (Japan), glass and spaghetti noodles (China), rice vermicelli noodles (Singapore), hakka noodles (Taiwan)and normal egg noodles."
From soups to salads to the main course, the festival will be noodles all the way with the Chef churning out authentic Pan-Asian dishes.
With a varied range of options, the month and a half long festival promises to cater to varied tastes where foodies can make their pick - bland or spicy, boiled or fried, vegetarian or non-vegetarian.
Those with a delicate palate, can opt for soups which, Chef Pradhan says, "are really meals in themselves."
They can choose from soups having a light stock with distinct flavours of ginger and garlic, like Asian style chicken and broccoli noodle soup, Singapore style fish ball and pakchoy egg noodle soup among others.
Those having spicier preferences can go for the red hot Chinese Crispy Noodle salad, which is very similar to the Indian bhel, with tomatoes and rich sauces.
This hot salad can be followed by the Cold Asian yakiudon noodle salad with peanut and sesame which comes as a relief to the burning ears and running noses.
Unlike most food festivals where the non-vegetarian food
items often outnumber the vegetarian ones by large margins, the noodles festival has been thoughtfully curated keeping in mind the latter's cravings.
Specialties in the main course include Chinese Lo Mein with Mustard noodles, Indonesian Stir-fried Bakmi Goreng noodles and Thai Basil noodles.
Offering the option of customising dishes according to individual tastes, the Chef has also curated an array of unique sauces like sesame and java.
While a majority of the non-veg dishes - soups, salads and main course - have a vegetarian counterpart with the meat in the former being substituted with veggies like mushrooms, carrots, asparagus and spinach leaves etc, there are also items like Spicy Chinese Dan Dan rice stick noodles or Spicy Grill spaghetti noodles, where the vegetarian preparation is topped with chunks of steamed duck or chicken, so that everyone's a winner.
The festival is set to continue till June 30.
