Q: I had not noticed a big difference between spaghetti and noodles before I visited a Japanese Italian food restaurant where one of my friends ordered spaghetti and the other ate noodles. Frankly speaking, I felt like a fish out of water. The first friend ate spaghetti with the fork, while the other used chopsticks for noodles. Since there is some difference between them, should I use a different method for microwaving noodles?
How Are Noodles Different from Spaghetti?
As a matter of fact, spaghetti originates from Italy, while noodles first appeared in ancient China. That’s why you eat spaghetti with a fork and use chopsticks with noodles.
Moreover, noodles are not produced of durum wheat flour, as well as they may have different additives in their contents.
The most popular are rice noodles and egg noodles.
Noodles can be boiled in a broth which is not the traditional way of cooking spaghetti.
Both spaghetti and noodles are long, whereas noodles are also thinner than spaghetti.
The latter is cooked in salted water with the addition of olive oil, and noodles do not follow this rule.
Boiled Noodles in the Microwave Oven
The main rule here is to take a large bowl to fill it with at least four glasses of water.
Cooking noodles in the microwave oven is fast and easy.
You may also choose to microwave noodle nests which is quite OK. The following steps will lead you to a perfect dinner:
- Place noodle nests at the bottom of the container so that you don’t need to pour in much water
- Boil a few glasses of water in the electric kettle to save the time
- Pour the boiling water over the noodles (to top the nests by 1 cm) and add a pinch of salt
- Cover tightly with the lid
- Microwave noodles for five minutes at high power and drain the water afterward
- Add a tablespoon of any vegetable oil you like and stir well.
The similar method applies to the noodles made of rice, Ramen, buckwheat, pies etc.
Are Noodles Good for Health?
There are so many types of noodles:
- Funchoza
- Egg noodles
- Soba
- Harusame
- Udon
- Shirataki
All of them are good for health. Some types of noodles like Funchoza are 100% healthy even for those who are allergic to some of the components. It’s also gluten-free.
Buckwheat noodles are enriched with amino acids and Vitamins B1 and B2.
The Japanese enjoy harusame noodles because they are low in calories.
Noodle Nests with Forcemeat Stuffing in the Microwave
Ingredients:
- Noodle nests – 8 pcs
- Beef or pork forcemeat – 300 g
- Onion – 1 pc
- Black ground pepper
- Chicken egg – 1 pc
- Ketchup
- Salt
- Breadcrumbs
Preparation:
Mix the forcemeat with finely chopped onion, breadcrumbs, chicken egg, salt, and pepper. Add other spices to your taste. You may also flavor the dish with chopped garlic, carrot, herbs, mushrooms, or cheese.
Put the mixture in a microwaveable dish and cook for 12 minutes at full power.
Take the forcemeat out and let it sit covered for 5-10 minutes.
When the forcemeat is ready, start preparing the noodle nests.
Drown them deep in salted boiling water and microwave without cover for 15 minutes at full power.
Drain the water, put the noodle nests on separate plates, and stuff with forcemeat.
You can microwave the ready dishes again for a minute. Sprinkle with the herbs and add ketchup dressing.
Microwave Ramen Noodles
If you want to learn how to cook the Ramen noodles in the microwave oven, follow a few simple steps:
- Boil two cups of water in the microwave oven and pour them into a bowl with Ramen noodles
- You can either break noodles while they are packaged, or leave as is
- Microwave the noodles for 4 minutes at full power
- The noodles must be flexible, not hard
- Remember not to pour in cold water. Only hot water will make the noodles flexible and ‘non-slippery’.
