December 6, 2011

Turning Spaghetti into Ramen Noodles/スパゲティーをラーメンの麺に変える

The other day, I learned from a TV show that you can turn spaghetti into ramen noodles simply by boiling it with baking soda.

100 g spaghetti
1000 ml water
1 tbsp baking soda
Option:
1 tbsp salt
(Sorry, I corrected a silly mistake above:  Not 100 ml water but 1000 ml water.)
Bring water to a boil, add baking soda (and salt) and spaghetti.
Boil for the prescribed time (or prescribed time plus 2 min.).

Caution: Water may get bubbly when you add baking soda.

先日、テレビ番組で、スパゲティーを重曹で茹でるだけでラーメンの麺にすることができると知りました。

スパゲティー 100 g
水 1000 ml
重曹 大さじ1
好みで
塩 大さじ1
(誤りを訂正しました: 水 100 mlではなく、水 1000 mlです。)

お湯を沸かし、重曹(と塩)とスパゲティーを入れる。
規定の時間(または規定の時間+2分)茹でる。

注意: 重曹を入れると、お湯が泡立つことがあります。

This guy (Japanese only)tried spaghetti, hiyamugi (wheat flour noodles thicker then somen), and soba (buckwheat noodles). He said he successfully turned the first two into ramen noodles, and added that soba turned into noodles "beyond words".
このは、スパゲティー、冷麦、蕎麦を試し、スパゲティーと冷麦はラーメンの麺になり、蕎麦は「言葉に出来ない」麺になったと言っています。

I will try this tip in the near future, and report back.
この技を近いうちに試し、報告します。

12 comments:

Fräulein Trude said...

Be very careful while adding baking soda to boiling water - it will foam and rise in an instant (I sometimes make a prebaking "baking soda-milk glaze" for homemade bretzl rolls, the milk foams like nothing good). Did the guy rinse the noodles afterwards with clear water to get rid of the soda taste? This is really something new and very convinient. Here it is so much easier to buy spaghetti than ramen noodles.

Hiroyuki said...

Kiki: Thanks for the precaution. Reading your comment reminded me of karume yaki!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntegqvJEOC8
Childhood memories!

This guy doesn't say anything abour rinsing.

This site
http://cookpad.com/recipe/896386
recommends rinsing in cold water if you don't like the slime or if you use the noodles in "hiyashi chuka".

Sissi said...

Hiroyuki, karume yaki looks delicious! Like a huge soft bun! (And I see it's the same pan you use for oyakodon!).
Otherwise, what do you mean by turning spaghetti into ramen noodles? Is it the taste or texture that changes? They still look like spaghetti... (sorry if it's a stupid question).
Spaghetti is certainly much cheaper here than ramen noodles!

Fräulein Trude said...

Karume yaki - I do know this under the name honeycomb toffee. Made it quite often - it is very nice broken into chunks and mixed into soft vanilla ice cream while preparing vanilla ice cream.

It is the same chemical reaction: Baking soda releases gas (CO2) due to the heat wether it is hot sugar or hot water or hot milk.

Does the soda change the surface of the pasta?

Hiroyuki said...

Sissi: Boiling with baking soda will make spaghetti look like, taste like, and feel like real ramen noodles. I can't believe this myself, so I will try it by myself in the near future, hopefully tomorrow.

Hiroyuki said...

Kiki: Thanks for enlightening me! And, you have made it often? I've never thought of making it myself!

As for your question, I don't know. Probably yes, because these and other guys say that the texture is just like that of ramen noodles. I will try it in the near future and report back, so stay tuned!

Sissi said...

Thank you for the explanation. It sounds like a miraculous solution!
By the way, I have just had your daikon hasami yaki (with ground chicken) for lunch. It was absolutely delicious, but I have mixed up your instructions and dusted the daikon slices outside and not inside. The result: burnt outside and not sticking to the filling inside. It looked too scary to post, but the taste was excellent. I will make it tomorrow with corn starch inside this time ;-)

Stacy said...

Now I'm really curious if this will work as it's also cheaper for me to buy spaghetti rather than ramen noodles. In fact some local ramen restaurants in Toronto use spaghetti noodles to save money. (which disappoints me when I'm craving authentic ramen) I'm looking forward to your results!

Fräulein Trude said...

Hiroyuki: honeycomb toffee - I will make some these days and post a "how to". It is really easy but I ran out of baking soda. Have to buy some first.

Hiroyuki said...

Thank you all for your comments.

Looking forward to your version of hasami yaki, Sissi!

Looking forward to your recipe, Kiki!

Stacy, I've found this site:
http://www.umamimart.com/2011/09/recpy-pasta-de-ramen/

I will try the tip for lunch today.

Shannon @ JustAsDelish said...

Hi, I found you through Sissi's blog. I just tried making spagetti today, so this is a good tip to try to make it into ramen. can't wait to try soon!

Hiroyuki said...

Shannon: Do try this tip! I hope you like the results!