Edit History

29 minutes ago, btbyrd said:

A wheat noodle that has been treated with an alkaline salt such as kansui. If you can't find kansui, Harold McGee discovered that if you cook baking soda in the oven for an hour, it becomes much more alkaline and can be used as a substitute for kansui. This is the basis of, for example, the noodle recipe in David Chang's Momofuku cookbook. But even Momo don't make their own; they get it from Sun Noodle.

 

I also think that the pre-fried instant nramen oodles are perfectly acceptable substitutes. By and large, however, their seasoning packets are terrible. (There are notable exceptions, however.) There's no shame in using them with quality broth and high quality toppings.

Kansui is found in almost any "Asian" (I hate that word) market or Chinese/Vietnamese/SE Asian/Japanese market, I would think. In any case, the process (and difference) is between sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) and sodium carbonate (and a mixture thereof) which that miraculous cooking process (the McGee heat treatment; something known to chemists for a while) produces. pH ~8 vs pH ~10. But that is not the final/true pH of the actual dough mixture, as one is using small amounts of kansui as one develops the dough mixture.

p.s. I am glad that you recognize that using some "instant noodles"/"ramen" blocks is fine. Also, as you say, various "packages" of seasonings are quite good. And they don't even have to be Japanese.

23 minutes ago, btbyrd said:

A wheat noodle that has been treated with an alkaline salt such as kansui. If you can't find kansui, Harold McGee discovered that if you cook baking soda in the oven for an hour, it becomes much more alkaline and can be used as a substitute for kansui. This is the basis of, for example, the noodle recipe in David Chang's Momofuku cookbook. But even Momo don't make their own; they get it from Sun Noodle.

 

I also think that the pre-fried instant nramen oodles are perfectly acceptable substitutes. By and large, however, their seasoning packets are terrible. (There are notable exceptions, however.) There's no shame in using them with quality broth and high quality toppings.

Kansui is found in almost any "Asian" (I hate that word) market or Chinese/Vietnamese/SE Asian/Japanese market, I would think. In any case, the process (and difference) is between sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) and sodium carbonate (and a mixture thereof) which that miraculous cooking process (the McGee heat treatment; something known to chemists for a while) produces. pH ~8 vs pH ~10. But that is not the final/true pH of the actual dough mixture, as one is using small amounts of kansui as one develops the dough mixture.

p.s. I a glad that you recognize that using some "instant noodles"/"ramen" blocks is fine. Also, as you say, various "packages" of seasonings are quite good. And they don't even have to be Japanese.

10 minutes ago, btbyrd said:

A wheat noodle that has been treated with an alkaline salt such as kansui. If you can't find kansui, Harold McGee discovered that if you cook baking soda in the oven for an hour, it becomes much more alkaline and can be used as a substitute for kansui. This is the basis of, for example, the noodle recipe in David Chang's Momofuku cookbook. But even Momo don't make their own; they get it from Sun Noodle.

 

I also think that the pre-fried instant nramen oodles are perfectly acceptable substitutes. By and large, however, their seasoning packets are terrible. (There are notable exceptions, however.) There's no shame in using them with quality broth and high quality toppings.

Kansui is found in almost any "Asian" (I hate that word) market or Chinese/Vietnamese/SE Asian/Japanese market, I would think. In any case, the process (and difference) is between sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) and sodium carbonate (and a mixture thereof) which that miraculous cooking process (the McGee heat treatment; something known to chemists for a while) produces. pH ~8 vs ph ~10. But that is not the final/true pH of the actual dough mixture, as one is using small amounts of kansui as one develops the dough mixture.

p.s. I a glad that you recognize that using some "instant noodles"/"ramen" blocks is fine. Also, as you say, various "packages" of seasonings are quite good. And they don't even have to be Japanese.

9 minutes ago, btbyrd said:

A wheat noodle that has been treated with an alkaline salt such as kansui. If you can't find kansui, Harold McGee discovered that if you cook baking soda in the oven for an hour, it becomes much more alkaline and can be used as a substitute for kansui. This is the basis of, for example, the noodle recipe in David Chang's Momofuku cookbook. But even Momo don't make their own; they get it from Sun Noodle.

 

I also think that the pre-fried instant nramen oodles are perfectly acceptable substitutes. By and large, however, their seasoning packets are terrible. (There are notable exceptions, however.) There's no shame in using them with quality broth and high quality toppings.

Kansui is found in almost any "Asian" (I hate that word) market or Chinese/Vietnamese/SE Asian/Japanese market, I would think. In any case, the process (and difference) is between sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) and sodium carbonate (and a mixture thereof) which that miraculous cooking process (the McGee heat treatment) produces. pH ~8 vs ph ~10. But that is not the final/true pH of the actual dough mixture, as one is using small amounts of kansui as one develops the dough mixture.

p.s. I a glad that you recognize that using some "instant noodles"/"ramen" blocks is fine. Also, as you say, various "packages" of seasonings are quite good. And they don't even have to be Japanese.

8 minutes ago, btbyrd said:

A wheat noodle that has been treated with an alkaline salt such as kansui. If you can't find kansui, Harold McGee discovered that if you cook baking soda in the oven for an hour, it becomes much more alkaline and can be used as a substitute for kansui. This is the basis of, for example, the noodle recipe in David Chang's Momofuku cookbook. But even Momo don't make their own; they get it from Sun Noodle.

 

I also think that the pre-fried instant nramen oodles are perfectly acceptable substitutes. By and large, however, their seasoning packets are terrible. (There are notable exceptions, however.) There's no shame in using them with quality broth and high quality toppings.

Kansui is found in almost any "Asian" (I hate that word) market or Chinese/Vietnamese/SE Asian/Japanese market, I would think. In any case, the process (and difference) is between sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) and sodium carbonate (and a mixture thereof) which that miraculous cooking process produces. pH ~8 vs ph ~10. But that is not the final/true pH of the actual dough mixture, as one is using small amounts of kansui as one develops the dough mixture.

p.s. I a glad that you recognize that using some "instant noodles"/"ramen" blocks is fine. Also, as you say, various "packages" of seasonings are quite good. And they don't even have to be Japanese.

7 minutes ago, btbyrd said:

A wheat noodle that has been treated with an alkaline salt such as kansui. If you can't find kansui, Harold McGee discovered that if you cook baking soda in the oven for an hour, it becomes much more alkaline and can be used as a substitute for kansui. This is the basis of, for example, the noodle recipe in David Chang's Momofuku cookbook. But even Momo don't make their own; they get it from Sun Noodle.

 

I also think that the pre-fried instant nramen oodles are perfectly acceptable substitutes. By and large, however, their seasoning packets are terrible. (There are notable exceptions, however.) There's no shame in using them with quality broth and high quality toppings.

Kansui is found in almost any "Asian" (I hate that word) market or Chinese/Vietnamese/SE Asian/Japanese market, I would think. In any case, the process (and difference) is between sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) and sodium carbonate (and a mixture thereof) which that miraculous cooking process produces. pH ~8 vs ph ~10. But that is not the final/true pH of the actual dough mixture, as one is using small amounts of kansui as one develops the dough mixture.

p.s. I a glad that you recognize that using some "instant noodles"/"ramen" blocks is fine. Also, as you say, various "packages" of seasonings are quite good.

5 minutes ago, btbyrd said:

A wheat noodle that has been treated with an alkaline salt such as kansui. If you can't find kansui, Harold McGee discovered that if you cook baking soda in the oven for an hour, it becomes much more alkaline and can be used as a substitute for kansui. This is the basis of, for example, the noodle recipe in David Chang's Momofuku cookbook. But even Momo don't make their own; they get it from Sun Noodle.

 

I also think that the pre-fried instant nramen oodles are perfectly acceptable substitutes. By and large, however, their seasoning packets are terrible. (There are notable exceptions, however.) There's no shame in using them with quality broth and high quality toppings.

Kansui is found in almost any "Asian" (I hate that word) market or Chinese/Vietnamese/SE Asian/Japanese market, I would think. In any case, the process (and difference) is between sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) and sodium carbonate (and a mixture thereof) which that miraculous cooking process produces. pH ~8 vs ph ~10. But that is not the final/true pH of the actual dough mixture, as one is using small amounts of kansui as one develops the dough mixture.

4 minutes ago, btbyrd said:

A wheat noodle that has been treated with an alkaline salt such as kansui. If you can't find kansui, Harold McGee discovered that if you cook baking soda in the oven for an hour, it becomes much more alkaline and can be used as a substitute for kansui. This is the basis of, for example, the noodle recipe in David Chang's Momofuku cookbook. But even Momo don't make their own; they get it from Sun Noodle.

 

I also think that the pre-fried instant nramen oodles are perfectly acceptable substitutes. By and large, however, their seasoning packets are terrible. (There are notable exceptions, however.) There's no shame in using them with quality broth and high quality toppings.

Kansui is found in almost any "Asian" (I hate that word) market or Chinese/Vietnamese/SE Asian/Japanese market, I would think. In any case, the process (and difference) is between sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) and sodium carbonate (and a mixture thereof) which that miraculous cooking process produces. pH ~8 vs ph ~10.