ELEM: Title of Book

[Virginia Millington <GinnyStfd@AOL.COM>]

A teacher is looking for the title of a book he loved as a child.  He said it
is about an old woman eating or cooking dumplings.  (Not Strega Nona) One
dumpling rolls off the table falling through a crack in the floor/wall.  She
chases after it, exclaiming "My noodle, my noodle!"  She then ends up in some
underground cavern-type city/world with creatures in it etc.  Do any of you
know a book that sounds anything like this?  It could be an "old" one.
 Thanks!
        Virginia M. Millington