Going Noodle Crazy in Grand Asia Market

I have been searching for these noodles that I heard about on television that supposedly imparted close to no caloric intake. How could this be?? NOODLES?! WITH NO CALORIC INTAKE?! Show me these marvels! So I had been searching all of my local Asian grocery joints with no success. I saw noodles made out of soy, wheat flour, rice flour, just about anything you could imagine...but all of these contained close to the 100-150 calories per noodle serving that we all have become used to.

Most people who live in Raleigh know about Grand Asia Market, an Asian (and part Mexican- why is it that all Asian grocery stores seem to all be tied to Mexico?) grocery store that has an amazing array of produce, meat, seafood, frozen, prepared, shelf stable, and hot restaurant-style foods and then a grouping of Asian knick knacks that could make the average patron think they are walking into a Chinese market. Just logically speaking, this place had to have my noodles.

I searched once to no avail, but never fear- I don't easily forget my searches. I tried again yesterday and found them: JFC Shirataki Yam Noodles, packed in a bag with clear liquid in the refrigerated section. There were a few different types: small and large noodles and then a type that contained seaweed and one that did not. The ones containing seaweed had FIVE calories per serving!! Better yet, the noodles without seaweed had ZERO calories per serving, yes- you read that right- ZERO!! My little Food Science brain was spinning! How could this be??

There is a pretty well known reaction in Food Chemistry that makes use of some pretty basic ideas. Alginate and pectin solutions, when in the presence of an ion, such as calcium, tend to harden because that ion fits in to complete that back bone. In simpler terms, if you make a solution with water and alginate or pectin and then put it into a solution of water and calcium carbonate, then put the two together, you will have hard pieces that form. This is how the chefs in molecular gastronomy make those olives that aren't really olives. This is also a trick that food scientists like to show to little kids to teach them about the magic of food science.

So, my guess at least is that these noodles utilize the same principles. The yam flour is present because it lends calcium (there is calcium oxalate naturally present in yams), the hydrated lime is present because lime rinds naturally contain a lot of pectin, the water is present as a carrier and to keep the product stable during storage, and the seaweed seems to be present just as a flavoring agent.

I cooked them up, by themselves first to get rid of some of the moisture. Then I added some onions, fried tofu, egg, and a paad thai inspired sauce made out of tamarind sauce, fish sauce, garlic, ginger, brown sugar, lemon juice, ground red pepper, and peanut butter. The first thing we noticed upon opening the container was that it smelled slightly like Nickelodeon's gak. It wasn't difficult to cook with, the hardest part being to separate the individual pieces.

The noodles definitely had a unique texture, almost causing a *squinch* sensation when biting down. They were fairly nondescript in flavor, but may not be for people who have a hard time eating texturally challenged foods. We decided that they might be diet food, ready for people that like the action of eating more than the actual food. However, the satiety value, how long it keeps you full, probably isn't high enough to call it a real meal. The noodles were also about $2.39 for a package- definitely more expensive than the average noodle. It was a very fun experiment indeed.

More searching around the store ensued and Jennifer found these noodles that she had been searching for, Banh Canh noodles from Vietnam. We happily got to cooking them up with beef, kimchi juices, kimchi, apple juice, onion, carrots, and water. They are made out of potato and turn from an opaque color to more translucent. Completely delicious! They had a little bit of a potatoe-y taste to them that was perfectly complemented by the flavor of the beef and kimchi. As a side note, upon reheating in consecutive days, the texture did not hold up- a little bit mushy. So we noodled it out on a nice Sunday afternoon. Thank you Grand Asia!


~Amanda