How to Ramen-ize Dried Pasta and Rice • Hacker News Board

Re: How to Ramen-ize Dried Pasta and Rice

#81

Post by lobster_johnson » Wed, Jan 28, 2015, 2:05 AM UTC

weeksie wrote: post #80

lobster_johnson wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Okay, perhaps? Not sure I've ever had a pasta that didn't taste better fresh. Can you name an example? I'm no expert but I'm not a complete noob either.

I don't think fresh pasta goes well with bolognese or ragu, for example. The composition of fresh pasta is much more delicate; it is softer, coarser and has less of a bite to it than dried pasta. Because it's so delicate and overcooks easily, it works best with minimal amounts of sauce that doesn't overwhelm or end up overcooking it.

My point is and was, it's simply a different product, much like egg noodles vs. rice noodles. One is not necessarily superior to the other.

A couple of relevant articles:

http://www.nytimes.com/1997/09/17/dining/italy-truth-about-p...

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2010/11/dont-fuss-...

Re: How to Ramen-ize Dried Pasta and Rice

#82

Post by weeksie » Wed, Jan 28, 2015, 11:23 PM UTC

lobster_johnson wrote: post #81

weeksie wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Okay, perhaps? Not sure I've ever had a pasta that didn't taste better fresh. Can you name an example? I'm no expert but I'm not a complete noob either.

I don't think fresh pasta goes well with bolognese or ragu, for example. The composition of fresh pasta is much more delicate; it is softer, coarser and has less of a bite to it than dried pasta. Because it's so delicate and overcooks easily, it works best with minimal amounts of sauce that doesn't overwhelm or end up overcooking it. My point is and was, it's simply a different product, much like egg noodles vs. rice…

Semolina is durum wheat (same stuff for dried and fresh), so I don't think there's a difference there. And I don't think I agree with regards to the flavor of a bolognese or ragu.

Then again, good fresh pasta is pretty easy to come by where I live (across the street from Raffetto's in NYC).

Anyway, thanks for the clarification. I don't think I really agree with you, but I'll make it a point to cook something with some high quality dried stuff and check the difference. Cheers!

Re: How to Ramen-ize Dried Pasta and Rice

#83

Post by dragonwriter » Wed, Jan 28, 2015, 11:41 PM UTC

lobster_johnson wrote: post #81

weeksie wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Okay, perhaps? Not sure I've ever had a pasta that didn't taste better fresh. Can you name an example? I'm no expert but I'm not a complete noob either.

I don't think fresh pasta goes well with bolognese or ragu, for example. The composition of fresh pasta is much more delicate; it is softer, coarser and has less of a bite to it than dried pasta. Because it's so delicate and overcooks easily, it works best with minimal amounts of sauce that doesn't overwhelm or end up overcooking it. My point is and was, it's simply a different product, much like egg noodles vs. rice…

> The composition of fresh pasta is much more delicate; it is softer, coarser and has less of a bite to it than dried pasta.

That can be true -- particularly, essentially all dried pasta is hard-wheat pasta, fresh pasta may or may not be hard-wheat pasta. But I don't think the distinction you draw is particularly true when comparing dried pasta with fresh pasta using similar wheat.