How to Make Fresh Rice Noodles

If you're ever had Pad See Eww or Beef Chow Fun (above), you've had these noodles. They're wide, soft, and very satisfying. A quick Google search will yield a wide variety of recipes, using many different flours. This recipe uses a combination of rice flour and tapioca flour/starch, so it is completely gluten free.

The ratio of rice flour and tapioca flour can be altered to your taste and/or experience. The tapioca flour makes the noodles easier to deal with, but they will have a chewier texture. A noodle made with all rice flour will be nice and soft, but very difficult to get out of the pan in one piece!

Making these noodles does take time, but they are worth it! This recipe makes enough for one large main dish portion, or two side dish portions.

• 1 cup rice flour
• 1/4 cup tapioca starch/flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 cup water
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Mix the flour, tapioca, salt and water in a bowl and whisk to combine. Add the oil and then set aside to rest for 20 minutes. 

Other items you'll need:

• Two 8 inch square foil cake pans. The disposable ones you buy in the grocery store work just fine, and they can be used several times.
• A steamer set-up. You'll want a pan big enough to hold the foil cake pan, with room for steam to rise up around all sides. Lastly, a steamer rack to keep the pan above the boiling water. This is the set-up I used:

This is a hotel pan with a steamer insert and lid that I picked up from my local restaurant supply store. I filled the bottom pan with water so it came up about 3 inches from the bottom of the steamer tray. A large saute pan with a round cooling rack would also work well. 

Fill your kitchen sink with about a inch of cold water. When you take your pan out of the steamer, you'll place the pan in the sink to cool the noodles off.

Brush the bottom of your foil pans with a little vegetable oil. Give the noddle batter a quick whisk or two (the flour will tend to settle to the bottom), then pour about a 1/3 cup of the batter into each pan. Shake the pan from side to side to distribute the liquid evenly.

Place the pan into your steamer, cover, and cook for 4 minutes. When done, the noodles will be slightly translucent. Remove the pan from the steamer and place it in the sink of cold water. (it will float) Place your second prepared pan into the steamer.

The foil pans cool quickly, so by the time you return from placing the second pan in the steamer, your first pan will be cool enough to handle. Brush the top with some more oil, then gently work your fingers around the edges of the pan to loosen the sheet. If you start pulling on the side where the noodle sheet is thickest, it will be more likely to come out in one piece. Place your noodle sheet on a plate, and cover with plastic wrap to keep it from drying out.

Add another 1/3 cup of your batter to the pan and set aside. Continue until all the batter is gone and you have a neat stack of noodle sheets. Cut the noodles into your desired width. If you brush the sides of your knife with a little oil, that will aid in getting a clean cut. Pull them apart and use immediately in your favorite stir fry.