The basic steps are as follows: –
- Add lye water or baked baking soda to warm water to make an alkaline solution.
- Add alkaline solution to the flour; mix and squish dough into a ball.
- Rest dough 30 minutes.
- “Knead” 2-3 minutes with rolling pin.
- Roll dough flat with pasta machine.
- Cut dough into long strips of noodles.
- Simmer noodles briefly in boiling water.
You will need the following (serves 4):
- 240 grams all-purpose flour (2 cups)
- 2 teaspoons baked baking soda (or 1 teaspoon of lye water aka “kansui” )
- 1/2 cup plus 1 teaspoon warm water (you might need more but this is a good start)
- Pasta machine
- Large mixing bowl
- Spoon or spatula or chopsticks
- Measuring cup or kitchen scale. I prefer a kitchen scale ( I have this OXO one ) because it makes for more consistent measuring as a cup of flour can range anywhere from 100 grams to 300 grams depending on how lightly or tightly packed the flour is.)
Contents
Can we make ramen noodles at home?
Why It Works –
- Using bread flour, which has a high protein content, gives you a noodle with a good amount of chew.
- Supplementing the protein content of bread flour with vital wheat gluten produces an even chewier noodle.
- Using baked baking soda (sodium carbonate) in the dough gives the noodles their characteristic elasticity, springiness, and glossiness, as well as their flavor.
- Running the dough sheets repeatedly through the pasta rollers both develops a strong gluten network and aligns it horizontally along the sheet, giving the noodles their “bite. “
You can’t have a bowl of ramen without wheat-based alkaline noodles, and while it’s possible to purchase high-quality noodles from noodle manufacturers like Sun Noodle, you can also make excellent noodles at home, so long as you have a few key but common ingredients: high-protein bread flour, vital wheat gluten, and baked baking soda,
- 99g King Arthur bread flour
- 1g vital wheat gluten
- 1g kosher salt
- 1.5g baked baking soda
- 40g water
We received a bunch of advice from three noodle experts during the development of this recipe: Kenshiro Uki, vice president of operations for Sun Noodle; Keizo Shimamoto, owner of Ramen Shack and Shimamoto Noodle; and, especially, Mike Satinover (a.k.a. Ramen_Lord).
- 6 g baked baking soda
- 4 g Diamond Crystal kosher salt ; for table salt or other kinds of salt, use the same weight
- 160 ml water
- 396 g King Arthur bread flour (see note)
- 4 g vital wheat gluten (see note)
- To Make Noodles : Add baked baking soda to water and stir to dissolve completely, about 1 minute. Add salt, and stir until dissolved completely.
- Combine vital wheat gluten and bread flour in the bowl of a food processor fitted with metal blade, or in the bowl of stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Process until thoroughly mixed, about 30 seconds in a food processor or 1 minute on low speed in a stand mixer.
- Increase speed to medium-low and, with machine running, add 1/3 of liquid at a time, allowing time between each addition for liquid to be fully absorbed, about 30 seconds. After final addition, allow machine to run until flour and water mixture looks pebbly, about 1 minute. If using food processor, stop machine and let rest for 30 minutes. If using stand mixer, stop machine, cover bowl with plastic wrap, and let rest for 30 minutes. (This pause is to allow the flour to more fully absorb the liquid.)
- Press dough into a ball and divide into two roughly equal portions.
What ingredients are used to make ramen noodles?
What is Ramen Noodles? – Ramen noodles are a Japanese adaptation of Chinese wheat noodles. They are traditionally hand-pulled to create chewy, soft, and silky noodles. Most ramen noodles are made from 4 basic ingredients: wheat flour, water, salt, and kansui.
Are ramen noodles good for you?
– Though instant ramen noodles provide iron, B vitamins and manganese, they lack fiber, protein and other crucial vitamins and minerals. Additionally, their MSG, TBHQ and high sodium contents may negatively affect health, such as by increasing your risk of heart disease, stomach cancer and metabolic syndrome.
Is ramen hard to make?
Ramen and the Home Chef – Real ramen certainly has a reputation for being notoriously difficult to make. This, of course, only adds to its appeal to foodies, who tend to gravitate towards dishes that aim for the highest echelon of expert preparation. Ramen chefs spend a lifetime learning the trade — stewing and brewing beautifully nuanced stocks that literally take days-upon-end to finally serve in a dish that should be quickly slurped in one sitting (or standing).
- Like great pit masters, ramen chefs are truly iconic and even celebrated for their art.
- Yet despite ramen’s legendary culinary status, it is a dish you can make at home — as long as you keep my cooking mantra in mind: Keep it simple stupid! Instead of diving into a super complicated version of ramen, start with a basic one.
Focusing on a few ingredients, exercising proper technique, and having a willingness to learn are the vital characteristics to authentically making this dish on your own. But that’s not me talking; after all, making ramen ain’t my forte. Instead, I decided to reach out to a great friend, and the woman who helped introduce me to this dish in the first place. Sarah found a love for ramen during her 20 years living in LA as an exec in the music business. Along with her husband Brad, a weekend habit for the two was to explore the Japanese-oriented neighborhoods of LA — Little Tokyo on the West Side near Sawtelle St.
- Downtown, and Torrance.
- Upon moving to Nashville, TN, Sarah laughingly says, “life was devoid of said pleasure so I tackled it head on.
- So it began, night-after-night, cutting up pork bones and brewing them in stockpots of a hundred pound measure.
- I can remember late night parties where she’d tell me about her habit of cooking pork broth to un-sensical proportions.
In her own baptism by fire, and with a passion to learn, Sarah slowly inched her way to learning the mastery of the dish. Despite some initial hype from her pop-up success (Otaku South), she decided to remain focused, turning down expert training for a year of trial-by-doing — an earnest endeavor.
What noodles are used in ramen?
*This post may contain affiliate links. Please see my disclosure to learn more. Nowadays, we are seeing an explosion of ramen bars and restaurants all over the world. These places cater specifically to the growing demand for this delicious noodle soup. The growing obsession with this dish is palpable.
Your ramen cravings can hit you at any time of the day. In all likelihood, you will want to start making it yourself. After all, every home chef should dip their toes into this pond sooner or later. That is why we have compiled this list of the best noodles for ramen. We did our research and scoured the market for the best noodles you can use.
This way, you won’t be left hanging once the ramen cravings hit you. So what are the best noodles for ramen? Choosing the best noodles for ramen is up to personal preference, but the most common ramen noodles are soba, somen, and udon noodles. Noodles can’t be called “ramen” unless they contain alkaline water, also known as “kansui.
Can you use spaghetti noodles for ramen?
Spaghetti and baking soda!? – So this trick is very popular among Japanese people who live abroad who also cannot get premade Ramen noodles. So it’s not only me who think the trick is good enough! The trick is, cook normal spaghetti in water and baking soda! That’s it! Of course it’s not technically the same but it’s surprisingly close enough.
Is ramen same as Maggi?
Instant Noodles – Jocelyn Hsu On the other hand, instant noodles were invented in 1958 when Momofuku Ando discovered how to dehydrate noodles in his shed. Believe it or not, when instant noodles were first sold in Japan, they cost slightly more than fresh ramen and were considered a luxury product, Irene Kim The only similarity between instant noodles and ramen is that they’re both noodle soups. Ramen is made fresh while instant noodles include a vast variety of manufactured noodles. The next time you call something ramen, think about it first. Is it really ramen or just instant noodles?
What flour is used in ramen?
3 Tips for Making Homemade Ramen Noodles – Making ramen noodles is a time-intensive project. The following tools and ingredients make the process easier for home cooks:
- 1. Pasta machine : Using a pasta machine, whether it’s a hand-cranked manual version or an attachment for your stand mixer, will make rolling and cutting the noodle dough much easier.
- 2. Baking soda : An alkaline solution is a key component of ramen. You can buy kansui powder at well-stocked Asian grocery stores or online, but baking soda is a great substitute. First, you’ll need to transform baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) into sodium carbonate, one of the main ingredients in kansui, by baking it in the oven.
- 3. High-protein flour : Flour with a high protein content contains more gluten, which gives the noodles a chewier texture. Bread flour, which is higher in protein than all-purpose flour, is best for ramen noodles.
How do you make instant ramen?
Preparation. Bring 2½ cups of water to a boil in a small saucepan. Add the noodles and cook for 2 minutes. Add the flavor packet, stir, and continue to cook for another 30 seconds.
Do Ramen noodles have egg?
Five Things to Know About Making Homemade Ramen –
- Ramen doesn’t get its yellow color from eggs: A traditional ramen recipe consists of hot water, kansui, salt, and wheat flour. No egg! Kansui is everything: Traditionally, ramen noodles were made using well water, which is naturally alkaline. Today, recipes call for kansui, an alkaline, mineral-rich water sold in Asian markets. The kansui reacts with the flour to give ramen its yellow color, springy texture, and earthy (borderline funky) scent. It may also be labeled as potassium carbonate or sodium hydroxide. More gluten equals more chew: For a chewier ramen noodle, use a higher-protein (gluten) flour. Use 00 flour (a finely ground flour) for a silkier noodle. Coat the noodles in potato starch: To keep the noodles from sticking together as you cut them, liberally sprinkle them with potato starch. Cook them in the biggest pot you own: Bring a (very!) large pot of salted water to a boil. To keep the noodles from sticking together, delicately sprinkle them in. They need lots of room to “dance. ”
How often should you have ramen?
But if you want to use them up, try to stick to only a few ramen-based meals a week, if you can. The odd ramen pack isn’t going to be a problem but it shouldn’t be a staple of your diet, just because they’re high calorie, high sodium and not at all nutrient dense.
Can you eat ramen everyday?
For the sake of journalism. – Cue a resounding and unanimous amen from all my fellow broke, college students — eating ramen on a desperately consistent basis is an all too relatable procedure. Meals don’t get more elementary than those sodium-infested bags of goodness; what’s more effortless than throwing a solidified pack of noodles and powder into a pot and instantly having a meal ready for consumption on your dinner table? Regardless, this didn’t come without a twang of guilt and concern; after all, we’ve all heard the finger-waggling lectures from our doctors and mothers telling us to stay away from the delightfully low-priced fare.
When I asked why, I would always receive a simple “it’s bad for you,” without much accompanying explanation. Although I knew these quick meals were notorious for ridiculously high levels of sodium, I didn’t know how that would directly relate to my health on a short-term level. Obviously, ramen has its nutritional flaws, but how much could that popular culinary fix really affect your body? Is it worth sacrificing your health for a 99-cent meal? For the sake of journalism, I decided to find out.
I wanted to turn my occasional ramen rendezvous into a full-blown experiment to answer the age-old question of its effect on health, so I decided to eat ramen every day, for every meal, for five days. The rules were straightforward: I could munch on serving sides and accessorize the ramen in whatever way I desired, but the ramen had to be the main entree in every single course.
In all honesty, I didn’t even have to venture to the store to stock up; I already had an embarrassingly large variety of ramen noodles to choose from in my cluttered pantry. Although I tried to resort to them as little as possible, it was always nice knowing it was there, and I would often boil up the packs as a side dish when my meal was relatively simple.
As a personal preference, I despised those cheap Top ramen noodles that you can snag from just about any local store; instead, I’d take the effort to pick up several (more expensive) packs when I went to a Korean grocery. So luckily, the plethora of noodle choices in front of me were quite extensive (and far more nutritious than your average cup of ramen).
At Maruchan, we understand the importance of eating healthy. Which is why we offer several flavors with less sodium. But there are also many ways to turn our ramen noodles into a wholesome meal everyone can enjoy. Yes, healthy ramen isn’t only possible, it’s easy to make.
Ramen noodles are most healthy when combined with other ingredients to create a nutritious meal. Maruchan ramen is great to use as a base for a variety of healthy dishes and it is easy to prepare quickly. There is no end to the different types of ingredient combinations that can be used to make ramen noodles a part of a health-conscious diet.
Start making ramen noodles healthy with these easy steps:
- Choose a Maruchan Less Sodium Flavor
Begin with a Less Sodium Flavor to start your healthy ramen noodle meal off with the right base.25% Less Sodium Instant Lunch Chicken Flavor 25% Less Sodium Instant Lunch Beef Flavor 25% Less Sodium Ramen Noodle Soup Chicken Flavor 25% Less Sodium Ramen Noodle Soup Beef Flavor 2.
Add Some Vegetables Toss a few of your favorite vegetables into your bowl of ramen. This will contribute to a hearty flavor and add nutrients to the meal. Carrots, spinach, broccoli, zucchini, cauliflower and peppers will not only give you great taste, they give you a nice serving of vitamins, minerals and fiber in every bite.
Try experimenting with different combinations of vegetables with different ramen flavors to find the mixture that you like best.3. Don’t forget the protein Balance out your meal by adding some protein to your ramen. The easiest place to start is by selecting the same meat as the ramen flavor.
