My first Ramen noodles

After spending a decent part of my day learning about these alkaline noodles and why the use of kansui and/or sodium carbonate is so important in the process, I was eager to apply my new findings to make my own ramen noodles.  This is my first attempt, after being inspired by other online at making these delicious noodles.  As you’ll be able to tell, it’s very simple to make them and so much more rewarding than buying them at the store… although it’s a little more labor intensive.

Ready for a quick kitchen work out?

The result made some firm, non sticky, easily freezable and nicely chewy noodles while the broth had a nice beefy and shiitake flavour.  Since most of the day had already been spent on learning, I went easy on the soup recipe and made a very basic stock making sure to really put the emphasis on the homemade noodles.

Because of the high gluten and low liquid content, this dough is very tough to flatten and knead by hand.  If you have access to a pasta machine, consider using it because you’re getting in to a serious work out.  Let’s just say good thing I had a strong man in the house and even for Max, it was a tricky operation.

I enjoyed his cleaver “book technique” to spread the force needed on the rolling pin in order to avoid ruining his forearms and hands so here’s a photo of what it looked like just in case you want to give it a try…

It’s been a real fun learning experience to make ramen noodles and I cannot wait to try again.  Hope you enjoy this recipe.

5.0 from 2 reviews

My first Ramen noodles

 

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Prep time

1 hour

Cook time

1 hour

Total time

2 hours

 

These noodles are firm, non sticky and chewy. If you have a pasta machine, consider using it because the dough is very tough to roll and knead.

Author: ZestyandSpicy.com

Ingredients

• For the noodles:
• 2 cups of all purpose flour
• 3 teaspoons of vita wheat gluten
• ½ teaspoon of kosher salt
• ⅔ cup of water water
• 1 teaspoon of sodium carbonate powder
• 
  
• For the Stock:
• 2 cups of homemade beef bone stock (or commercial beef broth)
• 2 cups of water
• 1 loosely packed cup of sliced shiitake
• 1 green onion, sliced round
• 1 tightly packed tablespoon of minced cilantro
• 1 tightly packed teaspoon of grated ginger
• 2 tablespoons of regular soy sauce
• 1 tightly packed cup of finely sliced (length wise) green cabbage leaves
• 3 tablespoons of light, unsweetened coconut milk
• coarsely crushed black peppercorns to taste
• 
  
• For the garnish:
• Soft boiled egg,
• Black sesame seeds

Instructions

1. - In a medium sauce pan, mix all the ingredients for the stock and let simmer at low temperature for a minimum of 1 hour.
2. - On the side, in a mixing bowl, start by adding the flour, vita wheat gluten and kosher salt. Mix well.
3. - Pour the warm water in to a glass (on the side) and mix in the sodium carbonate. Mix well till it is dissolved.
4. - Add the sodium carbonated water to the flour mixture and, with a wooden spoon, mix together till it's absorb by the flour. Once you don't see any liquid, take your hands and knead the dough for a minute or two until it form a smooth ball. The dough will seem very dry but try to resist the temptation to add more water.
5. - Once your ball is form, wrap in plastic wrap and let sit for 30 minutes.
6. - Fill up a big pot of water and bring it to a boil, on the stove top.
7. - After 30 minutes, start rolling the dough as thin as you can (this is where the pasta machine would have come handy).
8. - Fold the thin, rolled out dough in 3 (on itself like if you were folding a piece of paper) and, which a sharp knife, slice your noodles as thin as you can OR use your noodle attachment on the pasta machine.
9. - Boil the noodles for 30 seconds to 1 minutes depending on how thin you were able to get them (mine took a good minute) and transfer them to your serving bowls.
10. - Cover with the stock, add the soft boiled eggs on top and sprinkle a few black sesame, on the eggs for the look.

3.5.3226