# Rice vs Noodles



## Argus

IMPORTANT QUESTION.

For me they are both good, but it's rice all the way baby.


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## tdc

Rice! Its my favorite grain. 

Especially brown rice - more restaurants should offer brown rice dishes in my humble opinion.


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## Art Rock

Pasta, but rice is great as well.


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## Argus

tdc said:


> Rice! Its my favorite grain.
> 
> Especially brown rice - more restaurants should offer brown rice dishes in my humble opinion.


Brown is my favourite too. Nicer taste, better texture and it's supposed to be healthier because less of the natural nutrients are filtered out.


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## Serge

Looks like a thoughtful post. 

Pasta for me all the way, but I like rice as well.


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## jurianbai

I eat rice and noodle for 30 years... I must say noodle got yummier LOL


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## Conor71

Rice!!


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## Chris

Double egg and chips man here. I picked the Neither option.


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## Huilunsoittaja

Pad Thai!


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## dmg

Neither - carbless diet.


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## sospiro

Pasta pasta all the way


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## Aksel

Albeit tempted to say that I don't eat any of that fancy foreigner food (which I do, by the way), I would have to say that I enjoy pasta the most.


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## Sieglinde

Kiku: RICE!
Feliciano: PASTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
Ludwig: Stfu, WURST.


Actually, rice for me. Preferably in form of sushi/onigiri.


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## Krummhorn

Rice ... Jasmine rice with vegetable bullion ... so versatile, it goes with most any dish.


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## hawk

Love the versatility of rice the flavor too! Leftover plain white rice warmed with raisins, cinnamon and of course sugar! Noodles just wouldn't do it prepared in this manner.

Are there dessert recipes that use pasta?


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## HarpsichordConcerto

I enjoy rice dishes, such as risotto and fried rice.

I enjoy pasta and noodle dishes. There are numerous types of pasta and noodle dishes.

Everything in moderation. Exercise. I enjoy my life.

(I didn't actually vote because it doesn't have the option of "enjoy both").


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## Aksel

hawk said:


> Love the versatility of rice the flavor too! Leftover plain white rice warmed with raisins, cinnamon and of course sugar! Noodles just wouldn't do it prepared in this manner.
> 
> Are there dessert recipes that use pasta?


There are vermicelli puddings. But I haven't heard of other pasta desserts. But I don't see why there shouldn't be more.


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## World Violist

I vote rice. Noodles are amazing, but nothing quite beats the simplicity and versatility of rice.


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## Ravellian

I love white rice with teriyaki chicken, and I love spaghetti! I can't decide


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## Almaviva

I was thinking noodles as the Asian kind. If we're considering all kinds of pasta as included in the noodles category (that is, Italian pasta), then I'd have to change my vote from rice to noodles/pasta.


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## Air

As a Chinese-American, this question is pretty easy for me to answer. But I've found that it's mainly white rice that does the charm for me, not brown rice of (even worse) that purple stuff some people call rice. I can eat any amount of food with a large bowl of white rice.

Then there's also what we call _zongzi_ (粽子), ravishingly flavored glutinous rice (糯米) wrapped in seaweed. Another great one is _nian gao_ (年糕), the Year Cake, which is made of the same sort of sticky rice but shaped somewhat like Jell-O. For those of you who aren't familiar with these foods, here are some images to make one's mouth water:


















Of course, if you like both, there's always _rice noodles_, the best of both worlds.


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## World Violist

Air said:


> Of course, if you like both, there's always _rice noodles_, the best of both worlds.


Now we're talkin'.


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## Fsharpmajor

I voted for noodles, but I have nothing against rice.

With rice noodles you can have the best of both worlds.

Wild rice is delicious, but has a bit of a misnomer, because it is not closely related to genuine rice.


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## haydnfan

Noodles because washing dishes after cooking rice is annoying!:lol:


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## Argus

Almaviva said:


> I was thinking noodles as the Asian kind. If we're considering all kinds of pasta as included in the noodles category (that is, Italian pasta), then I'd have to change my vote from rice to noodles/pasta.


I was thinking just the Asian kind of noodles as well. If we included Italian pasta then it might slightly get the edge for variety with things like tagliatelle and fettuccine being some of my favourites. I had some sconcigli with bolognese last night but wasn't overly impressed. I keep meaning to try a Neapolitan ragu as well, but can't be bothered learning a new recipe.

Even if I grouped pasta and noodles together, I'd probably still pick rice just because I like more things that go well with it.


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## Almaviva

Argus said:


> Even if I grouped pasta and noodles together, I'd probably still pick rice just because I like more things that go well with it.


Certainly rice as a side dish is more versatile than pasta, but pasta is better when it is the dish itself (although a good risotto would be the equivalent, for the rice category). The bottom line is that they're both delicious.


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## Xaltotun

Both taste very good but I try to avoid carbs... they make me sleep. And I hate sleeping and drowsiness more than anything else! I don't like to relax, I want to be active like a squirrel all the time.


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## dandylion

I'm a pasta nut, but what about potatoes. Yummy. Mashed w/gravy is a comfort food.


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## Chi_townPhilly

If having Mexican food (which happens fairly regularly- there are some great Mexican restaurant options in South Jersey), Mexican rice is close to a non-negotiable. For Chinese carry-out, rice is always a part of things- though I'm certainly not averse to a good Lo Mein. 

However, since I'm perfectly happy dining on most any of the traditional Italian-American comfort foods, I'll have to say noodles (or, in accordance with the more common currency now, 'pasta').


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## Fsharpmajor

hawk said:


> Are there dessert recipes that use pasta?


In the UK we have tinned macaroni pudding:









It's not bad. The "macaroni" is actually more like spaghetti rings.


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## World Violist

This is vaguely entertaining to me to note that rice, which used to be used for _currency_ in the Far-East, is just being edged out by noodles, which has nowhere near the historical value of rice. Not commenting on anything, just saying...

Also, this is almost like an East vs. West conflict. Noodles are more a staple of Western culture than rice is, anyway, and of course rice dominates the East.

So if you were looking at things purely objectively rice would have to win hands down, but NO, it's being beaten by something as lowly as... as noodles...


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## Almaviva

^ It's only being beaten so far by a noddle filament (not to say hair, I don't want hair in my food).


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## dmg

He is pleased.


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## Serge

World Violist said:


> This is vaguely entertaining to me to note that rice, which used to be used for _currency_ in the Far-East, is just being edged out by noodles, which has nowhere near the historical value of rice. Not commenting on anything, just saying...
> 
> Also, this is almost like an East vs. West conflict. Noodles are more a staple of Western culture than rice is, anyway, and of course rice dominates the East.
> 
> So if you were looking at things purely objectively rice would have to win hands down, but NO, it's being beaten by something as lowly as... as noodles...


So, that's how your thought process would go in a blind "noodles vs rice" taste contest? 



dmg said:


> He is pleased.


Yummy! What do you feed that thing? Rice?


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## Argus

World Violist said:


> Also, this is almost like an East vs. West conflict. Noodles are more a staple of Western culture than rice is, anyway, and of course rice dominates the East.


Are noodles synonymous with all wiry pasta in the US? Some of the comments by the 'Muricans lead me to believe this (like the Flying *Spaghetti* Monster pic). This may be skewing the results.

I think of both noodles and rice as being purely Asian foods.

Do Americans have rice with chili con carne? I always have chili with rice but I don't think it's as common across the pond.


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## Almaviva

Argus said:


> Are noodles synonymous with all wiry pasta in the US? Some of the comments by the 'Muricans lead me to believe this (like the Flying *Spaghetti* Monster pic). This may be skewing the results.
> 
> I think of both noodles and rice as being purely Asian foods.
> 
> Do Americans have rice with chili con carne? I always have chili with rice but I don't think it's as common across the pond.


Yes, I had the same impression at first that the OP was referring to Asian noodles, but then others have started to incorporate Italian pasta as well. Rice here in America is not very common at home (in terms of home cooking) since potatoes in various ways (mashed, baked, fried) and corn predominate as the carbs, but it is very common in all sorts of ethnic restaurants so it's not like we don't eat rice. Yes, chili is eaten with rice in Mexican restaurants and fast food places and if someone is preparing a big bowl of chili con carne for guests to watch a game, for instance, it is common to cook rice as well.


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## dmg

In Texas, Mexican (or 'Tex-Mex') is very common, and I'd say rice is more popular than pasta as a result (especially if you throw in the Asian restaurants).


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## nickgray

Rice, hands down.


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## MrTortoise

Air said:


> Of course, if you like both, there's always _rice noodles_, the best of both worlds.


MMM, rice noodles in a delicious Vietnamese or Thai soup, now that's a tasty carbohydrate delivery system!


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese

Noodles for me .


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## Klassik

Rice. That Minute Rice stuff is too fast for me. I prefer 4'33" rice. Oh, and screw that brown rice. I'm on the Satie diet. Only white rice. Now, where's my umbrella?


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