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Homemade Ramen Noodles {Leftovers Club}

Homemade Ramen Noodles {mind-over-batter.com}

Homemade Ramen Noodles {mind-over-batter}

Have you ever seen something and thought, “I can make this!”  And then attempt it?

I do this a lot.

A lot.

I’ve made my own sprinkles (my wrist STILL hurts from that one).

My own sriracha.

My own Fiya roasted ketchup.

My own cinnamon chips.

My own foot scrub.

My own grenadine.

Homemade Ramen Noodles {mind-over-batter.com}

People think I’m crazy.

And when I made my own ramen noodles, people thought I done lost my evah lovin’ mind.

I didn’t.

Well…

Maybe – But not because of the ramen noodles.

Making ramen is easy. So easy you’ll wonder why you’ve never attempted it before.
Gone are the days of trooping it down to your favorite ramen place. You’re going to make your own noodles.

Homemade Ramen Noodles {mind-over-batter.com}

But first… What does it take to make your own ramen noodles? Something called kansui, which is not readily available in my hood. After conducting a bit of research (thank you, Google!), I found the same chemical reaction you find with kansui can be achieved by a little something I am almost POSITIVE you have in your pantry.

Baking soda.

YES! Baking soda! Add flour + water and you too can achieve the perfect chewy ramen noodle.

Homemade Ramen Noodles {mind-over-batter.com}

We’re getting all scientifical here, conducting science experiments and whatnot. Get your goggles, kids. It’s about to get real.

We’re going to bake baking soda.

What?!

Yeah… Flow with me.

What is baking soda in scientifical terms?

*puts on nerdy glasses*

Baking soda is sodium bicarbonate. When you apply heat to sodium bicarbonate, it causes a chemical reaction, releasing water and carbon dioxide. What’s left is alkaline, which gives ramen noodles their chewy bite.

Oh, and by the way you have to be careful with alkaline, ‘cause it may cause some skin discomfort when you touch it. I have gator hands, so nothing penetrates these. You on the other hand will want to be careful and avoid touching the alkaline until it’s been mixed with the flour.

Homemade Ramen Noodles {mind-over-batter.com}

Other than some possible skin discomfort, making ramen noodles is just like making any other homemade pasta. You pass that situation through your pasta roller over and over again until it’s smooth. Then you cut it into noodles with your cool ass spaghetti attachment.

I don’t have a spaghetti attachment, so I had to eye ball mine, cutting with a knife. Like back in the olden days. They sort of look like fettuccini, but they’re noodles dammit!  A spaghetti attachment is on my Christmas list (*cough* Mr. M.O.B. *cough)

Homemade Ramen Noodles {mind-over-batter.com}

Why hasn’t this been tried before? It sounds so simple. Yes, peeps – It is THAT simple.

I sent some ramen noodle to my Left Over’s Club partner, Joanne from Joanne Eats Well With Others. We met last year at a charity event where she made these wasabi brownies that were AMAZING. Her site is FULL of yummy treats like these Peanut Butter and Jelly Macaron and the Vanilla Bean Black Pepper Marshmallows she sent me. GIIIIRRRRL – THOSE WERE DELICIOUS!

I truly hope she digs the noodles. She’s an M.D. I figured the scientifical aspect of turning sodium bicarbonate to alkaline by using something as simple as baking soda would pique her interest.

Homemade Ramen Noodles {mind-over-batter.com}

Oh and if you don’t know what Leftovers Club is, allow me to school you. You’re paired each month with a fellow food blogger and you mail each other your leftovers. It’s awesome and pushes the boundaries of creativity. At least for me. And who doesn’t like to receive packages in the mail? It’s such a dying art.

Wanna learn more?

Wanna end up my partner one day so I can mail you cool stuff?

Click on this link, find out more, and join!

leftovers-logo1

So now I’ve given you the tools. Go take over the world, one ramen noodle batch at a time. Peace and stir fry ramen noodle grease, homies.

Homemade Ramen Noodles {mind-over-batter.com}

[purerecipe]


Ingredients

For the Alkaline

  • 4 tablespoons of baking soda

For the ramen noodles

  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose or bread flour
  • 1/2 cup warm water
  • 2 teaspoons alkaline powder made from baking soda

Instructions

  • Make the Alkaline: Preheat oven to 300° Fahrenheit and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Sprinkle the baking soda on the parchment paper and bake for 1 hour. Remove from the oven and allow it to cool. Carefully transfer the resulting powder to a glass jar with a tight fitting lid, making sure you don’t touch it with your bare hands, as there is a chance it may cause discomfort. I usually just fold the parchment and slide the baking soda into the jar. Store in a jar until ready to use. Make the ramen noodles: To a small bowl, add water and alkaline powder (cooked baking soda). Stir to combine and set aside briefly. In a bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or dough hook, add the flour and pour in the water/alkaline mixture. The flour should immediately turn yellow. Mix on medium/high speed for about 5-6 minutes or so to develop the gluten. This is a dry dough, so it may look sort of like gravel. Turn the dough onto a floured surface, gather it into a ball and then divide that ball into 2 pieces. Place dough in the refrigerator for about 2 hours or overnight. When the dough is sufficiently rested, remove from the fridge. Flatten each piece of dough, flour it generously, and then run it through the largest setting of your pasta roller. Run the dough through several times, folding the dough in half every time it comes out of the pasta roller. The dough will look ragged and break the first few times, but it will soon smooth out. When it begins to roll smoother, reduce the setting of the pasta roller and repeat until the dough is smooth. Continue passing the dough through your pasta roller until the dough is smooth and has been passed through at least 5 settings in your pasta roller, folding in half or thirds each time. Wrap the dough pieces in plastic wrap and allow them to rest for about 30 minutes. To make the noodles: Remove plastic wrap from the noodles and flour the dough generously. Set pasta roller to desired thickness of your noodles (for me its number 3 on my Kitchenaid pasta roller.) Pass it through at least twice, and then lay the pasta down on your counter. Flour the dough generously one more time and either using the spaghetti attachment or a very sharp knife, cut the dough into long thin noodles, about 12 inches long and flour the noodles once more. You can either place the noodles in a plastic bag and freeze them or cook right away. Cook the noodles: You can boil the noodles for about 1 minute until they have softened, but have a bit of bite to them. Makes enough noodles for about 2-3 bowls of ramen (I like a lot of noodles).

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