What Is Vermicelli Origin, Types, Health Benefits

If you are a food enthusiast and like to know about food, then you may have heard of vermicelli. But a lot of people wonder what vermicelli is. Not only what is vermicelli, but you may also want to know if from where it has originated from, what is it made of, and what the health benefits are. If you are a person having these curiosities and you would like to know about all of these, then you are totally at the right place. Here, in this article, we would like to have a complete overview of this topic. So, to know more, please go through the whole article.

What is vermicelli

The word vermicelli is of Italian origin. This word has got a horrible meaning which is “little worms”. But actually, vermicelli refers to extremely thin noodles. These noodles are quick to cook and have got countless flavors. They are transparent in color. People use these noodles all around the world. Some may have them in breakfast, while others have them as the main meal. There are mainly two kinds of vermicelli mainly. These two types are as below:

 Italian Vermicelli or Plain Vermicelli

The Italian noodles are made from durum wheat flour. The Italian people use these noodles like any other pasta, especially spaghetti or angel hair. The only thing separating these noodles from other pastas is the degree of thinness.

Asian vermicelli 

The Asian vermicelli does not go with the name of the traditional one, it is commonly known as the rice noodles in Asia. The Asian one tends to be thinner and longer in shape and size. The noodles are made from rice flour. This is the reason behind their name. Though these noodles are thinner in size, there also exist thicker ones. There are some other types of Asian vermicelli also which may include glass noodles,   Vietnamese noodles, and lemongrass chicken noodles.

Vermicelli Recipe:

The vermicelli or Asian noodles,you only need to soak in hot water, instead of boiled water. After that, they are always ready to use in stir-fries or other dishes. At first, you need to bring a medium pot of water to a boil. After that, you should remove the pot from the heat, and then you may add the noodles. Next to that, you have to let the noodles soak until they’re tender. This may take about 5 minutes only. After that, you must drain the noodles and pat dry. You must add some oil to the noodles so that they do not stick together. You can also add pork, lemongrass, chicken, etc in your noodles. Many people like to eat these noodles wrapped in some lettuce. Some also eat it as a salad or some people like them as a crispy snack.

Vermicelli Pudding

This is a sweet dish from this noodles. You need to bring milk, sugar, and cardamom seeds to a boil in a saucepan. Then, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 5 minutes. next, Stir broken vermicelli pasta and raisins into milk mixture and simmer until pasta is tender and the cream sauce has thickened about 5 more minutes. At last, remove from heat and let stand until warm, about 15 minutes. If pudding is too thick, stir in a little milk.

Is vermicelli gluten-free?

If the noodles are gluten-free or not depends on the ingredients of it. If the key ingredients are gluten-free, then ultimately the vermicelli noodles are going to be gluten-free. Most of the vermicelli noodles are made from wheat flour which means these noodles do contain gluten in fact. Any vermicelli noodle dishes are things you want to avoid if you are gluten intolerant. If you’re creating the dish at home, it’s simple to substitute in the place of this which is made from rice, tapioca, or cornflour. Subsequently, the classic ‘vermicelli’ and ‘rice vermicelli’ are different. This is worth nothing. Most rice vermicelli is gluten-free so someone that doesn’t want to consume gluten may still be able to consume it as long as they clarify it is indeed rice vermicelli which is commonly going by the name “rice noodles” and not ‘vermicelli’.

Is vermicelli good for health?

These noodles has got some good things that are beneficial to health. But it is not an unmixed blessing. It has got some bad side also. The good health benefits of these noodles may include as below:

1. These noodles are generally fat-free, cholesterol-free, and very low in sodium count.
   2. This noodles dish is rich in carbohydrates that are essential for energy production in the body.
   3. The fat content in it is almost zero.

The bad side of it:

These noodles also have got some bad sides. Here we are adding some of the examples which are as below:

1. This is calorie-dense and not the best choice for people who are trying to lose weight.

1. These rice noodles are not a good source of protein and are therefore need to cook with other ingredients to obtain benefit from it.
2. This dish may result in high blood sugar levels and insulin spikes when consumed.
3. The fiber from these noodles that you do not absorb gets digested by the bacteria that live in our colon (large intestine) to make beneficial components for the body.

Final thoughts,

In brief, to summarize, we can say that it is an Italian-originated noodles dish. This dish may vary from place to place. The cooking style is also kind of different. The dish has got some good health benefits but also has got bad ones also.