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How to Ramen-ize Dried Pasta and Rice

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Re: How to Ramen-ize Dried Pasta and Rice

#51

Post by plug »

carlob wrote: post #6
ZoFreX wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you tried this yet? How does the end result compare to forking over the extra $ for fresh pasta rather than dried? Between this tip and the baking pasta one, my girlfriend is going to look at me very oddly next time I cook pasta.

> How does the end result compare to forking over the extra $ for fresh pasta rather than dried? Actually making fresh pasta is pretty fun…

It is a lot of fun, it tastes amazing and it gets quicker and less messy the more you do it.

Recently I decided I would start getting a lot more use out of an Imperia I bought years ago, with the specific goal of getting good/fast enough to not make a huge mess and be able to (literally) crank out a few helpings quick enough for dunner. Practice makes perfect...

The most time consuming part is mixing the flour and egg, and if you don't do it well enough you're going to have a hard time rolling and particularly cutting.

It turns out that it's a perfectly acceptable 'cheat' to just use a food processor... I tried it the last time and I ended up with a decent dough in a fraction of the time it takes to hand mix. That was an encouraging development :)

Re: How to Ramen-ize Dried Pasta and Rice

#52

Post by tptacek »

ceejayoz wrote: post #43
tptacek wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. It moves and splits the prep, so that the longest part of it is doable far in advance. It removes a timing element from the the finishing of the dish, too; it user-proofs the pasta. Pasta timing is predictable, but requires actual attention to be paid to that timing. It's particularly useful for risotto, or for dishes like baked mac & cheese where rehydration in boiling water will overcook the pasta. What's part…

What? You've removed 4-6 minutes from the "longest part" (which is likely eaten up by setting up the soak, draining it, and washing the soaking container) and your technique still requires timing the pasta.

Dump noodles in bowl. Fill bowl with water. Walk away indefinitely. I don't care how much time that takes, because it's neither timed nor attended, unlike boiling pasta.

("Washing the soaking container?")

There's no real "timing" the pasta during cooking. "Heat noodles through". Done.

You should try it.

Re: How to Ramen-ize Dried Pasta and Rice

#53

Post by tptacek »

ramses0 wrote: post #44
ceejayoz wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What? You've removed 4-6 minutes from the "longest part" (which is likely eaten up by setting up the soak, draining it, and washing the soaking container) and your technique still requires timing the pasta.

I will try using this technique next time I make carbonara. Carbonara is simple: cook bacon, reserve grease, pour in hot pasta + cheese + milk + egg. If I'm on the ball, I can cook and crumble the bacon a day in advance, but then the full pasta boil is easily the longest part of the process. If I have the bacon already prepped and can reduce the "bring-to-boil + wait ten minutes", it's actually a very nice time savin…

If you have a hot liquid to cook the pasta in, you don't need to bring-to-boil; you can heat rehydrated noodles through in oil, butter, bacon fat, or whatever.

Re: How to Ramen-ize Dried Pasta and Rice

#54

Post by tptacek »

tdicola wrote: post #36
Steuard wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly, I'm not sure that I get the value here. Is it just the ability to do some of the prep in advance? Why is (2hrs + 4min) better than (10min)? When I'm cooking a meal, getting the pasta done is rarely the limiting factor on any axis: it's dead simple, predictably timed, and requires very little attention beyond an occasional stir. If you're looking for a different taste or texture and this is a way to achieve…

I'm with you, it's just not a big enough time saver to be worth it beyond the novelty IMHO. Also it's way easier to store some dried pasta vs. this hydrated pasta (that presumably has to take up some precious refrigerator space?).

Why would you store all your pasta rehydrated? That doesn't make any sense.

Re: How to Ramen-ize Dried Pasta and Rice

#55

Post by tptacek »

weeksie wrote: post #49
tptacek wrote: post #2

To me, this feels like part of a cooking change we'll remember in 20 years. We were all taught to cook dry pasta in a giant pot full of boiling salted water, the more water the better. No! Not optimal! A trivially simple change fundamentally alters the process for the better: soak the pasta in cold water for a couple hours (as far in advance as you like, for convenience). The pasta rehydrates and takes on the texture…

I don't think this article is about regular pasta (e.g. for use in Italian dishes), I think it's specifically meant for ramen noodles, hence the added baking soda to make the water alkaline. There isn't any real advantage in adding so much to your prep time otherwise. Besides, if you're cooking Italian pasta just get the fresh stuff, it'll take 4 minutes to cook and it'll taste better anyway.

This article isn't, but the pasta section in the Ideas In Food cookbook is.

Re: How to Ramen-ize Dried Pasta and Rice

#56

Post by julian_t »

Steuard wrote: post #33
tptacek wrote: post #2

To me, this feels like part of a cooking change we'll remember in 20 years. We were all taught to cook dry pasta in a giant pot full of boiling salted water, the more water the better. No! Not optimal! A trivially simple change fundamentally alters the process for the better: soak the pasta in cold water for a couple hours (as far in advance as you like, for convenience). The pasta rehydrates and takes on the texture…

Honestly, I'm not sure that I get the value here. Is it just the ability to do some of the prep in advance? Why is (2hrs + 4min) better than (10min)? When I'm cooking a meal, getting the pasta done is rarely the limiting factor on any axis: it's dead simple, predictably timed, and requires very little attention beyond an occasional stir. If you're looking for a different taste or texture and this is a way to achieve…

Yes... as a technique, possibly interesting, but it would actually increase the time taken to prepare my pasta dishes!

Re: How to Ramen-ize Dried Pasta and Rice

#57

Post by surement »

dragonwriter wrote: post #47
surement wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> How does the end result compare to forking over the extra $ for fresh pasta rather than dried? Fresh pasta is not better than dried pasta, just different. You can't get an al dente texture with fresh pasta, for example.

> Fresh pasta is not better than dried pasta, just different. That's true in the trivial sense that "better" is subjective, so nothing is inherently better than anything else. OTOH, plenty of people do find fresh pasta better than, and not merely different than, dried pasta. > You can't get an al dente texture with fresh pasta, for example. Untrue. Al dente texture can be achieved with fresh or dried hard-wheat pasta…

> That's true in the trivial sense that "better" is subjective, so nothing is inherently better than anything else.

That's not at all what I meant. Sometimes dried pasta works better than fresh pasta, and vice versa.

> you absolutely can make such pasta al dente

That's interesting. Does it have advantages over dried pasta?

Re: How to Ramen-ize Dried Pasta and Rice

#58

Post by archagon »

lultimouomo wrote: post #50
archagon wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you sure about that? When I visited Italy, it seemed that pretty much all pasta was fresh pasta. You could find it in practically every store. Every restaurant served pasta that was fresh and eggy. I'm skeptical that a technique requiring dry pasta would be so widespread in a country that loves its fresh pasta so very much. Also, my feeling is that the definition of "al dente" is a little nebulous. I've seen it u…

"Al dente" is the equivalent of rare, there's no ambiguity to it in Italian. We mainly eat dried pasta; it could be that fresh pasta is overrepresented in restaurants, though.

When I was visiting, I was surprised by how many grocery stores stocked fresh pasta. You could find it almost anywhere. Now that I'm in Dublin, I can't even find a single one!

Re: How to Ramen-ize Dried Pasta and Rice

#59

Post by ceejayoz »

tptacek wrote: post #52
ceejayoz wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What? You've removed 4-6 minutes from the "longest part" (which is likely eaten up by setting up the soak, draining it, and washing the soaking container) and your technique still requires timing the pasta.

Dump noodles in bowl. Fill bowl with water. Walk away indefinitely. I don't care how much time that takes, because it's neither timed nor attended, unlike boiling pasta. ("Washing the soaking container?") There's no real "timing" the pasta during cooking. "Heat noodles through". Done. You should try it.

> There's no real "timing" the pasta during cooking. "Heat noodles through". Done.

You've still got to cook them if they're pre-soaked, and avoid both undercooking them and having tough noodles and overcooking them into a starchy sludge.

Either way, you'll either be going off a timer or by checking every few minutes for doneness. I don't find pressing a single button on my phone and saying "11 minute timer" to be so onerous that I'd look into soaking noodles hours in advance just to have to check them to make sure they're al dente anyways.

Re: How to Ramen-ize Dried Pasta and Rice

#60

Post by weeksie »

tptacek wrote: post #55
weeksie wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think this article is about regular pasta (e.g. for use in Italian dishes), I think it's specifically meant for ramen noodles, hence the added baking soda to make the water alkaline. There isn't any real advantage in adding so much to your prep time otherwise. Besides, if you're cooking Italian pasta just get the fresh stuff, it'll take 4 minutes to cook and it'll taste better anyway.

This article isn't, but the pasta section in the Ideas In Food cookbook is.

Ah. . . . gotcha. Yeah, all of the things I've seen on alkaline noodles are in relation to asian noodles. I'll have to give the pre-soak a shot sometime if I ever end up stuck with dry noodles. How much difference in flavor is there from fresh pasta?
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