Homemade Rice Noodles Will Change Your Life!

Sawasdee ka, welcome to Hot Thai Kitchen. If you ask me what my favorite noodle is, no question it is what we call sen yai or fresh white rice noodles also known as ho fun noodles that we use in cult favorite dishes like pad see ew, drunken noodles. They're soft, chewy, they absorb flavor really well, they are incredibly satisfying. For many of us however, they're not available at the store which is why today I want to show you how you can make them at home using only two ingredients and how to store them for both short-term and long-term use. Now I can actually buy them locally but my homemade ones are still way better. The combination of softness and chewiness is just unrivaled. So even if you can buy them at the store, it's still worth giving these a try. And don't even talk to me about the dried versions. I these fresh homemade rice noodles are going to be a revelation. Let's get started. The batter is extremely simple. I've got two parts regular rice flour and one part tapioca starch. The rice flour gives a tender texture and the tapioca starch gives a chewy texture. I'm now going to add water little by little at first just until a soft dough forms. I'm not adding all the water right now because I want to knead the dough. Kneading will help the starch hydrate fully more quickly and it will result in chewier, shinier, and more elastic noodles. So I'll just knead this for five minutes or so. Then I'm going to add the rest of the water all at once and dissolve the dough into a smooth batter. Now if you didn't want to knead, you can also just add all the water from the very beginning, make a batter, and then let it rest overnight. What we want is for the starch to fully hydrate and we can do that with time or speed it up by mechanically kneading the dough. And that's really all there is to it, to the batter, but I will point out one very important thing which has caused confusion in the past. The flour that we need for this is rice flour, regular rice flour, not glutinous rice flour. Okay glutinous rice flour will not work for Alright so that's the batter, let's get our steaming gear set up. The most important gear you're going to need for this is the steamer. Now easiest way is to have a rack steamer like this, but if you don't have one you can also just use a big wok or a big dutch oven and then get one of these steamer racks inside. You can get these at most Asian grocery stores. Just make sure that your wok has a lid. The second most important thing is the pan that you use to steam your noodles in. You can use round or rectangles, it doesn't matter. Obviously rectangles are going to create evenly sized noodles, but really once you cook it it doesn't make any difference. The most important thing is that they are flat, they are smooth, and they are thin because if they're thick they'll take a long time to cool and then it'll be a long time before you can steam the next sheet. Non-stick is better, but it is not a deal breaker if it's stainless steel, but non-stick will make the peeling noodles off of the pan a little bit easier. These stainless steel trays are great, you can get them at Japanese dollar stores like Daiso, they have lots of different sizes, but a non-stick cake pan is available at lots and lots of places. You will also need some neutral flavored oil to brush the pan and brush the noodles because these noodles are very sticky, so everything they touch needs to be oily, okay? You want to make sure if you're going to need to refrigerate the noodles that it's the kind of oil that doesn't harden in the fridge. Canola oil, soybean oil, sunflower oil, those are all great. Avocado oil, coconut oil, not so great. All right, I think we're- oh! Obvious but it needs to be said, make sure your pan fits in your steamer because you'll be surprised sometimes you overestimate the size of the pan that will fit, and also steamer tongs will make life much easier. This will allow you to move things in out of the steamer without worrying about burning your hands. You don't have one- you can get this at any Chinese supermarket. If you don't have one of these, then obviously you're going to need some sort of oven gloves, oven mitts of some sort. All right, let's get cooking. So I've got my steamer coming to a boil, I've got my batter with a whisk inside, and you want to whisk it every time before you use it because the starch will settle, and I've got my pan and my oil ready to go. First thing is you want to oil your pan thoroughly but lightly. So for this part I like to use a paper because the brush tends to put too much oil on it, and if you have too much oil it'll pool into little drops which then create little dents in the noodles. So you want to be thorough, get the sides as well. Okay, the water is boiling now. I'm going to put my pan on the steamer, stir my batter, and then pour in the batter. I'll talk about how much batter in a second, but as you can see when you pour it in it's going to kind of like pool on one side, or like a few of us have perfectly flat stove. So in the beginning you want to just jiggle it, and once the bottom starts to cook you get a more complete coverage. Oh, if you can see these oil droplets, see I already put too much oil, so that's why you want to put too much oil. And then I am noticing a little thin on that side, so I try my best to even everything out, and then cover, and then let it cook for exactly one minute. Batter amount, obviously it's going to depend on the size of your pan. So for my pan it's nine inches by six inches, I need exactly a quarter cup of batter. I will include in the recipe post on hotthaititchen.com a formula that you can use to calculate how much batter you need for your size of pan, and then of course you can then adjust the thickness of the noodles. If you find that my formula gives you noodles that are too thin or too thick, you can up and down the amount of batter as well. It does not affect any other methods at all. Okay, all right, it is cooked, and when it's cooked you can tell because there's usually going to be bubbling underneath, so I'm going to take it out and let it cool. So if you have multiple pans it'll speed things up quite a bit, because you can move on to the next pan while you wait for this to cool, but let me just readjust so I can show you how to peel this off properly. All right, before you peel the noodles off, this is very important, let the noodles cool completely. If you don't, the noodles won't release from the pan fully, and then when you peel it you notice gumminess that sticks to the pan, and I figured out that that's because the noodles are still warm when you remove it. So what you can do to speed things up is you can have like a cold water ice bath, and you dunk this in, and then it literally takes five seconds for this to cool completely. Usually when I do it at home, I'm working right next to the sink, so I just run cold tap water over the back of this, and it again takes 5-10 seconds. And then it's completely cool. This is especially important if you're doing stainless steel and not non-stick. Okay, so this is now completely cool. I'm going to brush the top generously with oil. Again, everything the noodle touches has to be oiled. And then you want to go around the edges with a spatula to help it release. If you're using non-stick, you won't have to do this because the edges will almost peel themselves off for you, but with stainless steel it needs a little bit of a nudge. So just run it along the sides, and I'm using stainless steel so I can show you the most difficult version of this. Okay, so once the sides are clear, then you can just try to peel it off, and it should, if all goes according to plan, comes clean relatively easily. You ready? Three, two, one, ta-da! Look at that! And then put it on a plate that is oiled. Oh my god. And then you repeat the process. Okay, now I will give you a tip. In the beginning, the first few times you do it, it is going to feel so chaotic. Like the thing you're doing is very simple, you're just steaming a batter and peeling it off, but there's like, it feels like there's like 15 things you have to touch, so it's going to feel a little bit chaotic in the beginning. Once you've done a few, you will find a rhythm, you'll find your flow, and it'll be much easier. And then for one pound of noodles, you only need to do like eight of these, so before you know it, it's over. So I want to point out, like see this little gumminess bit that you can, you see that? Yeah. So that will be greatly maximized if you don't let the noodles cool completely. Sometimes I'm lucky I let the noodles cool and there's absolutely nothing, sometimes there's a little bit more. If it's a little bit here and there, you can continue with the next batch without having to worry about this, but for that big patch, I would want to clean that off before my next batch, because I find that gumminess begets gumminess from the next batch. So for if you'd like tiny little dots, don't worry about it. A big patch like this, just use a dish brush, scrape it off, give it a wipe, just so you start out with a smooth pan. Okay, so now I'm going to do one using a non-stick pan, just so you can see the difference. Got my steamer going, my pan goes in, already oiled, you still need to oil a stainless steel, sorry a non-stick, and then the batter, you jiggle it until you have full coverage. So you're basically waiting for the bottom to set and cling to the pan so that it will stop running all over the place. Okay, are we there? We're there. Okay, cover one minute. I don't think that was one minute. Okay, so see how this one, there aren't really much bubbling under the noodles, but the top is very matte and by the look of it, I'm pretty sure that's done, so I'm going to take it off. I'm going to cool this immediately in my ice bath, which is behind me. It doesn't reach. Okay, brush it with oil. With stainless steel, like the edges come up so easily. I run it along anyway, just in case, but it'll be a much easier release than stainless steel. The most satisfying part. And look, zero gumminess on there, and that's perfect, so you can start a next one without having to clean off anything like that. So as I said, ideally non-stick helps, but it's not a deal breaker if you don't have one. Okay, so I'm gonna finish the noodles and then at the end, I'll turn the noodles into a delicious dish so I can taste it for you and explain to you how much better these are than store-bought. Ta-da! It's all done! Yay! Okay, let's talk storage a little bit. If you want to use these right away, now they are ready to use. You can cut them, cook them right away, but if you need to keep them, say for tomorrow, the day after, refrigerate them just like this in sheets. Once they have chilled, they'll firm up a little bit. It'll actually be a bit easier to peel and cut them and separate them into individual noodles. Keeping them in the fridge for a few days is no problem. The longer you keep them though, the stiffer the dough will become, and once they get really stiff, then they're more likely to break when you work with them. So I feel like a few days is ideal. And yes, you can freeze them. I've been experimenting with freezing and I was really surprised how well they hold up. After cooking them, I couldn't even tell they were previously frozen. You can cut them into noodles before freezing, but don't separate them. Keep them in a thin stack so they thaw quickly. Reheat them in the microwave so they regain elasticity and softness. And if you're going to freeze them, definitely read the full instructions on the recipe post where I'll include all the tips you will need. Okay, so one tip that I want to share with you is unless your stove is completely flat, you will probably end up with a thick side. Like here, I don't know if you can see it, but this side is significantly thicker than this side. Provided that you lay your noodles down on the same direction, which you should, all the thick side will be on the same side. And then all you have to do, if you think that that's too thick and you don't want that in your final dish, you can just cut it off. Like for me, I'm just gonna cut off this corner. And then with this recipe, it's a little more than a pound. So you've got some wiggle room to discard without having not enough noodles. Okay, now all you have to do is cut them into noodles, and my preference is about three quarters of an inch wide. Now if you want to freeze them, you can freeze them just like this in this stage, and when you're ready to cook, reheat them to soften if they're stiff and brittle, and then separate them into individual noodles. And now with these, I'm going to make pat siew to show you how beautifully they cook up. I have right here, well charred pat siew, made with fresh homemade noodles right off the stove, which means that this right here, ladies and gentlemen, is the peak of pat siew experience. And by the way, I will have an updated tutorial on how to make the perfect pat siew coming up next, so stay tuned. Let's see, look at how beautiful these fresh noodles are. And this is my one beef with store-bought noodles, is oftentimes they cut them too skinny, like they're too narrow. And I like mine wide, about an inch wide. It makes a really big difference in the mouthfeel, the experience, and in Thailand, they tend to be wider. So that is one benefit of making your own, is you can make it as wide as you want. All right, here we go. Look, and they are nice and long, because when you make them, you can make them a little more resilient, tooth-breaking. It is the perfect combination, tender and chewy. Like you just cannot get this texture with dried noodles, forget it, this does not happen. Even with fresh, store-bought, I just find it doesn't get quite this perfect, tender, chewiness combination. And I will tell you that even though I did say you can refrigerate it for a couple of days, I do feel that the texture of the noodles made like fresh off the stove is unrivaled. Like if you fridge it for a couple of days, you cook it, it'll still be delicious. But it's a little bit different. So I think if you can manage it, do it all in one day for the peak experience. But if you need to spread it out over a couple of days, it's not a problem. But I just want you to know where where the the summit of deliciousness is, and that is if you do it within the same day. It is so so worth it. I know it takes time, and I know it's going to take a bit of organization. Your first batch might, your first sheet might not turn out, but with practice, you'll make them perfect. And once you experience this, you can't go back. So I hope you give this a try. The recipe with all of my extra tips will be as always on hotthaikitchen.com, and I'll link to it below in the description. A special thanks to all of our Patreon members who help support the show, and thank you for watching, and I will see you next time. Sawasdee ka.