Why are they so complicated? My local supermarket has American-
manufactured, Italian-named noodles of various types which have
interesting names for what I perceive to be the same stuff in
different shapes. 3 pkgs for $1, on sale. In the veg dept., there are
"yock noodles" for $4/lb. My Asian grocery has a bewildering
assortment of noodle-like things made from various basic starches,
some of which require cooking, soaking it hot/cold water, or, for all
I know, praying over. I could cope if all rice noodle things were the
'soak' kind, and all soybean ones required boiling, but rice stick,
rice noodles, wholegrain, soba, buckwheat, semolina, are different
critters, how do I throw together a pad thai without undue anxiety?

[Interesting (to me) sidebar. "yock noodle" in Google turns up only
one *local* restaurant reference, and in *my* town, 'though the tem
is displayed as a generic in supermarket displays. This area *doesn't*
have a large Asian population. Strange.}