Rice and Bean Thread Noodles

 

Rice noodles, on the left, and bean noodles, on the right.

Vegetarian Recipes
My 13 year old daughter decided to become a vegetarian a few months ago. I let her look through my two vegetarian cookbooks to see if there were any recipes she wanted me to make for her. She saw a recipe for sauteed vegetables wrapped in an omelet. She said she would like something similar, but without the omelet.

 

One bundle of rice thread noodles. They are very stiff and need to be soaked in water before adding to recipes.

Vegetable Wraps
I made a shopping list, and we went to the grocery store to purchase the ingredients. I originally thought I'd use rice paper wrappers for the wraps, but I couldn't find them at Albertson's. I'll probably make a trip to Wholefoods in the next day or two, but for now, I decided to use flour tortilla's instead.

Rice & Bean Thread Noodles
I thought the wraps would need something a bit more substantial than just vegetables, so I decided to see if I could find rice thread noodles. I found both rice sticks and bean threads on the ethnic food aisle. The rice sticks, AKA rice noodles, come three bundles to a package and are made from rice, cornstarch and water. The bean threads, AKA bean noodles, come three bundles to a package and are made from mung bean starch, potato starch and water.

 

Soaking rice thread noodles in hot water.

The rice noodles are very thin, like an angel hair pasta, while the bean noodles, are a bit thicker, almost like spaghetti. Both varieties are wheat-free, making them perfect for anyone following a gluten-free diet. The preparation method is the same for both types of noodles.

Soaking Rice and Bean Thread Noodles

1. Remove one bundle of rice or bean noodles from the package.
2. Place the bundle in a large bowl.
3. Cover the noodles with hot water.
4. Let the rice noodles soak for 10 minutes, and the bean noodles soak for 20 minutes.
5. Drain off the water, then use the noodles in your recipe.

Drain softened noodles in colander.

Frying Rice and Bean Thread Noodles

1. Fill a stock pot with vegetable oil, until it is at least 2 inches deep.
2. Heat the oil to 375 degrees.
3. Remove one bundle of rice or bean noodles from the package.
4. Carefully place the noodles into the hot oil.
5. The noodles will immediately expand in the oil.
6. Remove the noodles from the oil and drain on a paper towel lined plate before adding to your recipe.

We wanted a soft noodle, to add to the vegetable wraps, so I used the water soaking method. I soaked the noodles as I was chopping, preparing all the vegetables for the wraps. Rice and bean thread noodles don't really taste like anything. They absorb the flavors of whatever recipe they are being added to. I used a citrus flavored soy sauce, AKA ponzu, and hoisin sauce to flavor the veggie wraps.

 

Veggie wrap filling on flour tortilla.

On Monday I will post up the recipe and lots of photographs of the vegetable wraps being made.

Take care,
Lynn Smythe AKA the Cuisine Diva

Comments

[groceries philippines]

This is my favorite noodles i really wanna try to eat this,good that you shared this. :)

vee