Saturday, February 18, 2017

Hand Made Hybrid Noodles for Newbies

People are often dissuaded from making noodles by hand, assuming that it's too much work, that you need a gadget of some kind like a crank roller, or that you need a precise recipe and a lot of practice rolling dough. It's just not true. In the past I've just said, throw some flour and water together and roll it out! But here's a trick that makes it VERY easy to roll, and even easier to cut with a knife.

Mix a cup of bread flour with a cup of rice starch (available at any Asian grocery or online, and it will be labelled rice flour - feel it, you can tell it's starchy. It will cost about a dollar for a small bag.) Add an egg, 1/2 tsp salt and slowly work in the egg by hand. Then add water a dribble at a time and knead about 5 minutes, adding a little more water if necessary, until you have a smooth dough. Oil the dough lightly. Then roll it out. Yes, immediately. It will take just a minute. (Don't add flour, only a little more oil if you need it.) Then take a knife and cut into long strips. It will take just a little patience, but it is very easy. (Don't try to roll the dough up into a tube and cut it, or it will squish.) Then boil the noodles for about 2 minutes. Here I've just added some soy, rice wine and sesame oil. They're very much like great udon. And of course I'd put them in soup. This will feed two.

Wednesday, February 1, 2017

Aztec Food Lecture

Dear Friends, Here's a lecture by me about Aztec Food which you can hear free from Audible:

 http://adbl.co/2jXuO5Q