How to prevent large rice noodle from curling?

Today I cooked big rice noodles with chicken in oyster sauce, Thai style. It was very delicious.

I had not fresh, but dried noodles (photo not mine).

In order to make it right, I needed to first cook the noodles in boiliing water for 2-3 minutes before actually stir-frying it, otherwise it would stay tough. But the instant I poured boiling water over it, all the nice rectangular sheets of noodles curled into noodle straws. How would I prevent that?

Best Answer

I ate those kind of noodles as you showed once many, many years ago and IIRC those noodles taste like dried Pho noodles and have the same texture. To stir-fry your noodles I suggest to soak them in cold or at maximum luke warm water first¹ and then stir-fry the softened noodles. Due to pre-soaking, hopefully there should be no uneven hydration and thus, no curling.² I've seen many people preparing Pho, Hu Tieu or sti-fried Pho that way without any curly noodles.
Depending on how thick your noodles are you might have to blanch the noodles before stir-frying.

¹ For 30 minutes? I never paid attention to the time. They don't get mushy if soaked longer.

² YMMV: Another advantage: You might be able to prepare the noodles beforehand, so no blanching directly before stir-frying or having sticky noodles if not fried immediately.

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Quick Answer about "How to prevent large rice noodle from curling?"

To stir-fry your noodles I suggest to soak them in cold or at maximum luke warm water first1 and then stir-fry the softened noodles. Due to pre-soaking, hopefully there should be no uneven hydration and thus, no curling.

How do you keep rice noodles from rolling up?

To cook your noodles in a stir-fry pan I recommend soaking the noodles in cold or at the very least lukewarm water first1, and then stir-frying the softened noodles. In the event that there is uneven hydration, there should be no curling due to the pre-soaking procedure.

Why did my rice noodles turn to mush?

Submerge them in room temperature water Because rice noodles are so delicate, don't boil them like you would do with pasta. Why? Because boiling them will make them release too much starch and that's the main reason they turn into a mushy mess while you're stir-frying them.

How do you keep noodles from clumping?

How to prevent pasta noodles from sticking together

Make sure your water is boiling before you add your noodles.

Stir your pasta. A lot.

DO NOT add oil to your pasta if you plan on eating it with sauce.

Rinse your cooked pasta with water \u2014 but only if you're not eating it right away.

Why do my rice noodles break?

Rice noodles that have been soaked too long will have a texture similar to over-cooked Italian pasta - soft and mushy. Over-soaked rice noodles tend to stick together with a gluey, gummy texture. They might also fall apart when stir-fried, leaving you with short pieces of noodles rather than long noodles.

You Won't Believe Making Rice Noodles is This Simple

Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Images: Wibhas Onnom, Quang Nguyen Vinh, DLKR, Angela Roma