I quit! No more noodles in stir fry!

[OnigiriFB]

Also, if I'm wokking particularly sticky noodles, I toss them with a bit of oil before adding them to the wok.   Probably not an authentic technique, but it will definitely prevent your noodles from sticking together!

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Shhhh! That's kinda a restaurant trick! Don't tell the world. Um.. well ok they toss it a lot of oil in the wok really really really quickly. You'd be surprised how much oil a "authentic" asian restaurant goes thru. I used to have to tell my dad to watch out or if I did myself in the kitchen (at age 5 so yes I had a lot of supervision usually one of the other cooks) I would almost always get splattered. Ouch!

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Yup, I do the bit of oil thing, too, which seems to prevent the glop factor.

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Another fan of the oil trick -- and just having returned from two weeks in Thailand, I learned that it's common both to toss the noodles with a bit of oil before frying and to use more than a bit of oil in the pan when cooking rice noodles. Like 1/4 cup per serving.

ETA: Oh, and the noodles are prepared two different ways (at least): if they're gonna be in soup, they're cooked until done; if they're gonna be stir-fried then they're significantly undercooked. That's probably obvious but I thought it worth mentioning.

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Hey, how was the trip? Any travelogue to share? I believe you were in Chiang Mai/ Chiang Rai area? Yes the noodles doneness or undoneness is important. In the States where mainly frozen, refrigerated, or dried rice noodles are common this plays a very key point. Just make sure to dry the noodles a bit if you are doing a dryer stirfry dish. Remembering the oil/water/splat on the arm thing.

Oh another trick Chris make me think of try tossing the noodles in garlic oil. This is something commonly found in Thai kitchens. We chopped LOADS of garlic and then fry them in a lot of oil until golden brown. This oil and bits of garlic are often added to noodle dishes. Try tossing your noodles in this for a more authentic taste. BTW this makes the house smell amazing!!!!!!!!!! I love the smell of frying garlic. Khapbi is another matter though when the housekeeper and an Aunt made that I wanted out of the estate as fast as I could possible run. *shudder*

Edited June 18, 2008 by OnigiriFB (log)

[Katie Meadow]

Okay, thought I would add my two cents. You don't say what type of noodles you are cooking with. I am guessing that times have only changed so much since I lived in New Mexico and that you are not getting fresh rice noodles. Are you getting fresh Chinese wheat noodles? Dried rice noodles? My experience is that the prep for all these noodles is different.

I don't know what type of stir-fry you are making. Some dishes use a crispier noodle or nest and then simply get the rest of the stir-fry ingredients poured on top. For a crispy noodle I pre-cook wheat noodles al dente and then coat with oil and bake them.

For other stir-fry, when I want my veggies or whatever tossed with noodles--either rice or wheat--I find the best results are when using a thinner noodle. For rice noodles that would mean vermicelli or "S" size, which is I think stands for small, and seems one step up from vermicelli.

For wheat noodles I boil them til al dente, dump into a strainer, briefly run cold water over, and then just mix them with a very small amount of peanut or sesame oil. The cold water stops them from cooking of course, and the oil prevents them from sticking. I toss them with a fork gently a couple of times while they are cooling and they can sit til I'm ready. I have easy access to fresh Chinese wheat noodles, but I would think dried wheat noodles would be boiled as per usual, til barely tender if they are going back into the wok before serving. I tend not to use soba in stir-fry; I prefer soba cool. I also don't use udon or other Japanese style noodles for stir-fry, but I don't see why that couldn't be done.

For thin rice noodles I don't find it necessary to boil them first, but simply pour very hot water over them and let them sit until they are just this side of tender, or al dente. That takes 15 minutes to half an hour, depending upon thickness. Then I drain them. I coat them with a very small amount of oil as well, but I am not sure it's necessary.

I make stir-fry in a wok on very high heat. When the ingredients are close to being tender, or however I prefer them, I add the sauce mixture, cover, and let steam until done, usually less than a minute. If I wish to have a noodle stir-fry (instead of over rice) I add the sauce ingredients just a minute earlier, cover, steam briefly, then dump in the cooled noodles, stir in quickly, cover again, and cook another 30 seconds or a minute until the noodles are heated through. They will soften up a little during that time. That's it. Hope this is helpful.

[gfron1]

Ha - you must have lived in a city in New Mexico. I'm in a town 3 hours from anywhere, and my store is the only option for international foods. I was using buckwheat soba that someone upthread told me was the wrong type for what I was doing. It was also made clear I way over cooked them. I say no more, but maybe once more now that I know what I know