Kathmandu, Feb. 14 -- In the shadow of the Boudhanath Stupa, Jon Tanimura contemplates a bowl of steaming thukpa and a plate piled high with spicy chowmein glistening with oil. The freshly-made noodles are somewhat familiar but he doesn't quite recognise them completely.

"They're different from mine. Mine are much thicker and chewier," says the 29-year-old Japanese noodle-maker after his first mouthful. "Sometimes, if you eat these kinds of fried noodles, you don't want a chewy noodle. This dish is perfect for this texture. So it's not like it's always the chewier the better." Topped with buff and a few leaves of pak choy, the thukpa is spicy and "really good", says Tanimura.

A "noodle expert", Tanimura's speciality is a very specific t...