Rice Noodle Help.
Tomorrow for dinner, I'm working with rice noodles for the first time ever. They are intimidating the hell out of me. The back of the package says that I can either fry them straight out of the bag or boil them. I want to put them into a broth of some kind with all kinds of yummy veggies and shredded chicken, will that even work? My friend told me that rice noodles are rice ... I thought they were noodles. Does anyone have any tips for a first time rice noodle user? I don't want to chicken out of my dinner idea, but I have no idea what I'm doing.
Add a comment:
Previewing your comment:
HTML Hints
Some HTML is OK: <a href="URL">link</a>, <strong>strong</strong>, <em>em</em>
Comment Guidelines
Post whatever you want, just keep it seriously about eats, seriously. We reserve the right to delete off-topic or inflammatory comments. Learn more at our Comment Policy page.
If you see something not so nice, please, report an inappropriate comment.
Start Talking!
Need a question answered? Have advice to share? Start a Talk topic now!
Sign up to get your questions answered and share advice.
5 Comments:
They're noodles! And they're are quite foolproof; the first time I used them I knew exactly what I wanted (something quite similar to what you describe), so I just added them to the broth and cooked them several minutes before serving. They were fine. I didn't do anything special or out of the ordinary. Just test them now and again while cooking, to keep an eye on doneness. If you want your vegetables minimally cooked, then add them after the noodles are nearly cooked.
My only caveat is a neatness one: because they are both very long and curly, eating rice noodles can get rather... splashy. If this is a problem, break them into smaller pieces before cooking.
mongoose at 3:23AM on 03/06/08
The first thing I pictured when I read the title were the straight rice noodles I used to make all the time for Thai food. I soaked those prior to stir frying. If I needed them right away I'd soak them in warm water. If I was prepping out early, I'd soak them in cold water. If I didn't use all I soaked, I put the whole pan of noodles with its soaking water into the fridge.
I love those things! I haven't had them in years...
chiff0nade at 5:05AM on 03/06/08
You're both right. They are noodles made from rice. I conventionally soak them in water, warm or cool depending on how much time you have on your hands. If frying, soak, drain and fry: deep fry for crispy or stir fry for something softer. If doing as you suggest with broth and other goodies; prepare the broth and cook your add-ins. Meanwhile, soak and drain the noodles then add to the boiling broth just at service.
czken at 6:44AM on 03/06/08
If you're talking about the flat rice sticks (dried), don't boil them.
Set aside a pot and heat it up but not so hot it's boiling. Turn off the heat. Put the rice sticks in for a couple of minutes. They should be mostly done. Take a noodle and taste-gauge it. You'll see that they become pliable fairly quickly.
Wash them in cold water so they don't cook further, since they cook really fast unlike regular dried pasta. It's no joke how fast they cook, and the texture is awful when overdone.
When you're ready, add the noodles towards the tail end.
If you've gotten fresh rice noodles, they're fully cooked - ready to use -- as opposed to fresh pasta, which typically still needs to be cooked. Those can just be thrown in at the end.
Cassaendra at 7:42AM on 03/06/08
Thanks for all of your help, guys. Once again, Serious Eats readers save the day .. or rather, save my dinner.
PumpkinBear at 5:16PM on 03/06/08