My rice noodles aren’t cooked enough. My rice noodles are overcooked. How do you cook rice noodles properly? If that sounds like you, read on.
Forget the instructions on rice noodle packages. They’re pretty useless.
I’ve never really understood why, but they only work for brothy dishes like Vietnamese pho. And even then, most of the time I have to cook longer.
In short, if you want to nail your Pad Thai and other stir-fried rice noodle dishes, here’s the method that works.
Alternative way to cook rice noodles
The method below isn’t much different from cooking traditional pasta and gives very good results if you don’t want to overthink it. I still recommend the method described at the bottom of the article—it delivers the best results once you’ve mastered it—but if you don’t want the fuss:
Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add a pinch of salt, then add the rice noodles.
Boil over high heat, stirring occasionally. After 10 minutes, drain and transfer them to a bowl to serve.
- If you’re planning to use them in a “stir-fry,” rinse them under cold water in a colander. The noodles will firm up and be ready for stir-frying.
Ingredients
- 1 bowl hot water Not boiling; about 70°C max
- 1 package rice noodles
Instructions
- Soak the noodles in hot water (not water that’s still heating) for 5 to 10 minutes.
- The noodles should be pliable but not fully soft—it may seem counterintuitive. When they reach that stage, drain well.
- Finish cooking the noodles in your dish. Because they’re only partially cooked, they’ll finish in the dish’s juices and oil, developing an inimitably silky texture.
These rice noodles finally came out perfectly tender and not mushy, and the kids practically inhaled their bowls and asked for seconds 🙂
So quick and easy for a busy weeknight; I was exhausted and short on time, and the hot water soak method gave me perfectly silky noodles for my stir-fry with zero fuss 😊
Never thought soaking rice noodles in hot (not boiling) water would work, but they turned out perfectly pliable and didn’t turn to mush in my stir-fry. Still feels like beginner luck, yet I’m oddly proud of how silky they came out 🙂
Such a helpful method, soaking in hot water first gave me perfectly silky noodles for stir-fry, and I intentionally made extra because the leftovers were just as good the next day 🙂