Noodles are the second most popular product in Asia after rice. Noodles are used not only for cooking hot dishes, but also for soups, salads, snacks... The variety of Asian noodles is amazing: taste, shape, color, caloric content and composition – all this makes each kind unique and worthy to try.
The composition of noodles can be divided into:
- wheat;
- rice;
- buckwheat;
- egg;
- starchy.
So we want to tell about the last one in more detail, because our people know less about it yet. We identified 11 facts that you should know about it:
1. As already seen from the name itself, noodles are made from starch. And it is made from starch of various products. The most common are: with green beans, from potatoes, from sweet potato. Recently, to reduce the cost of finished products, people began to use cheaper cornstarch, but the consistency and the taste of noodles is significantly different from others. Therefore, we do not recommend replacing it with this kind.
2. Generally, starch noodles are used absolutely in all countries of Asia. However, it is traditionally used in specific countries or regions. Starch noodles from green beans are more often cooked in China. Soups, salads, main hot dishes are made from it. And in Thailand, it is also added to the filling for spring rolls. In Japan, noodles from potato starch are more popular. The Japanese like to add it to miso soup and deep-fry. But noodles from sweet potato are most often used by Koreans for making their traditional capchae – noodles with vegetables and beef. Also, not everyone knows about the dish from this noodle, which is prepared by the Chinese from Sichuan Province – hot and sour noodles from sweet potato in broth.
3. Very often, starch noodles are confused with rice noodles. But the main difference is that when cooking it remains translucent, and does not become white. This makes it unique among the others, as it easily acquires the color of the sauces with which it is prepared.
4. Starch noodles do not have a pronounced taste. About bean noodles say that it tastes a little sweet. And about potato and sweet potato – that has a light, interesting aftertaste of potatoes and sweet potato, respectively. However, the neutral taste and aroma make the noodles special, since with the final taste one can experiment by adding one or another ingredient.
5. Noodles can be cooked with anything: meat, poultry, fish, seafood, vegetables, cheese, mushrooms, nuts, various sauces... Just turn your imagination on and on!
6. We do not even know which noodles are as easy to prepare as starch: it is necessary to soak for only 5 minutes in boiling water, and then rinse quickly under cold water so that it does not fuse.
7. Starch noodles are also called glass or crystal, as during preparation it acquires a characteristic luster. Also in different countries, it has different names depending on what noodles are made of: China – funchoza, Japan – harusame, Korea – dangmyun and others.
8. Starch noodles can even be taken by people who adhere to a gluten-free diet.
9. Starch noodles contain more nutrients than others. Noodles are full of many vitamins and microelements, which are useful for our body.
10. Such noodles are considered a dietary dish, because at the heart of the dish are complex carbohydrates, which serve as a source of energy, and do not turn into extra pounds.
11. The Chinese believe that the longer the noodles, the longer and better the life of the one who consumes it.
Cook. Learn new things. Do not be afraid to experiment.