Favorite comfort food recipes

Try these updated takes on all the classics, including lightened versions and the new multicultural comfort foods of the West

4 great noodle bowls

Warm up with steaming bowls of Asian noodles with fresh ingredients and tasty sauces

Iain Bagwell, Stephanie Dean and Amy Machnak

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Rice noodles

Most plentiful in the big rice-growing countries: China, Thailand, and Vietnam. Made of rice flour and water. Available in a variety of thicknesses, dried rice noodles (wide and vermicelli, left) are great in soups and stir-fries, since they absorb the flavor of the other ingredients.

Soak them in very hot water until tender before adding to dishes. Fresh rice noodles, found in the refrigerator section of Asian markets, can be used in place of dried, but there’s no need to soak them.