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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

#61

Post by Steuard »

tptacek wrote: post #53
ramses0 wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Ok, that's interesting: I hadn't recognized that you could use the pre-soaked pasta directly in fat (without further boiling in water/broth/whatever). I'm now more intrigued; thanks!

Re: How to Ramen-ize Dried Pasta and Rice

#62

Post by kazinator »

The "ramenize" process they describe turns pasta and rice into something that resembles instant ramen. Clearly, they haven't had normal ramen (from non-instant dried pasta noodles) or even fresh noodles. The verb "ramenize" seems rather ill-conceived.

Properly made ramen does have noodles with "al dente" texture, not mush. Some of the cheaper instant noodles turn into mush that practically falls apart on your tongue; sounds like what these guys are going for: that's what "ramen" means to them, sadly.

There is "ramenized" rice in Japan: stuff you can get that comes in a heat-resistant pouch made of a composite of plastic and aluminum foil that you open at the top and just pour in boiling water. A minute or two later, you have fluffy, soft rice. It's useful for traveling.

Let's just hope the word "ramenize" doesn't take off in Japan. Because then they will turn it into katakana, after which it will be "romanized" again, which will give us, good grief, "(re-)romanized ramenize".

Re: How to Ramen-ize Dried Pasta and Rice

#63

Post by jessaustin »

dagw wrote: post #42
ecmendenhall wrote: post #32

The Harold McGee article linked on the right mentions that the alkaline ingredients in ramen noodles are slightly different from baking soda: > As for the particular alkaline ingredients that are added to noodles, Chinese and Asian alkaline noodles, in general, contain potassium and sodium carbonate, which are not the sort of things that we usually have lying around in our kitchens. They’re carbonate salts of those m…

My local Asian supermarket sells the alkaline McGee is talking about as "lye water". Check if yours does as well. A lot easier to just buy a bottle rather then screwing around with baking soda in the oven.

Yeah but sodium carbonate (Na2CO3), which McGee is baking up in his oven, isn't as dangerous to use and have around as sodium hydroxide (NaOH) is.

Re: How to Ramen-ize Dried Pasta and Rice

#65

Post by GFK_of_xmaspast »

adam-f wrote: post #64

Is anyone else having cognitive dissonance with the % of ingredients in so-many-grams of water? Does 1% baking soda and 0.5% salt in 2000 grams of water mean 20 grams of baking soda and 10 grams of salt?

That's not what cognitive dissonance means.

Re: How to Ramen-ize Dried Pasta and Rice

#66

Post by Zancarius »

jghn wrote: post #40
tptacek wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because it's really messy, involves a lot of counter space, takes a fair amount of extra time, and isn't shelf stable. Making your own pasta is a great idea. Also delicious. But it's like a Sunday afternoon idea. Turning dried pasta into alkalized ramen-style noodles, though, is something you can set up in 4 minutes on a Tuesday night and then on Thursday when you remember you did that setup have for dinner in 3 minu…

"Because it's really messy, involves a lot of counter space, takes a fair amount of extra time, and isn't shelf stable." This. I have a pasta roller and some different cutters and I really enjoy the fruits of my labor when I do it. However, it's such a PITA that I rarely do it - it's so much easier to throw a box of dried pasta in some water I often just do that. I suppose that's true of just about everything in cook…

Same here. I have a really lovely Italian-made hand-cranked roller that I've used to make fresh noodles for lasagna or cannelloni. You can't beat the flavor or the texture. And they cook up very quickly and are ready to go... once you've put the effort into making them.

...but, here's the kicker: I haven't touched it in years (and I mean years!). Premade noodles are far too convenient to pass up. And if I'm making a few other things at once, I often don't want to be bothered with fiddly stuff like making noodles (and the counter space is usually at a premium anyway). I love cooking, but I often don't have the patience I used to for some things. These days, I'd rather sink my time into making some really amazing breads or trying out new recipes.

I'll have to clean up that old roller. But gosh, the time investment sometimes makes me dread the thought. ;)

Re: How to Ramen-ize Dried Pasta and Rice

#67

Post by nkatsaros »

adam-f wrote: post #64

Is anyone else having cognitive dissonance with the % of ingredients in so-many-grams of water? Does 1% baking soda and 0.5% salt in 2000 grams of water mean 20 grams of baking soda and 10 grams of salt?

That's exactly what it means. It's called baker's percentage[1]. I find it useful for getting repeatable results when scaling a recipe.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baker_percentage

Re: How to Ramen-ize Dried Pasta and Rice

#68

Post by chrissyb »

adam-f wrote: post #64

Is anyone else having cognitive dissonance with the % of ingredients in so-many-grams of water? Does 1% baking soda and 0.5% salt in 2000 grams of water mean 20 grams of baking soda and 10 grams of salt?

0.5% salt by my calculation is still 2.6 teaspoons (10g) of salt - In 2L of water that does not seem insignificant. When written in terms of percentages it does.

Re: How to Ramen-ize Dried Pasta and Rice

#69

Post by lobster_johnson »

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.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding, but you seem to think that fresh pasta is "normal pasta made fresh", therefore it's "better" -- but that's not true.

Fresh pasta is technically a dough; it's made with eggs. Dried pasta is made of durum wheat only. Fresh pasta tastes completely different and won't just work in any dish; works best for the more delicate dishes such as Alfredo.

Re: How to Ramen-ize Dried Pasta and Rice

#70

Post by jmnicolas »

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…

Milk or cream were not in the original carbonara recipe.
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