Noodles

Portioning

Your portion is the most important thing to consider when cooking noodles. So here are some guidelines to help facilitate some good cooking.

Roughly speaking 100g of dry pasta turns into ~225g or a 1/2 lb of cooked pasta.

Obviously a lot depends on appetite, but here are some rough estimations

Pasta has 350cal per 100g dry

For a pasta dinner:

• Dry pasta and a meatless sauce: 90-120g

• Dry pasta and a meat sauce: 70-100g

• Dry pasta and a large protein serving: 50-80g

For a pasta lunch or breakfast:

• Dry pasta and a large protein serving: 40-80g

Asian noodles typically have a smaller serving size. They typically have more side dishes or are served in a broth.

• As a part a feast: 40g-60g
• As a solo meal: 80-100g

Dry Pasta

Some Pasta Myths to bust

Pasta must be cooked in boiling water: False, but it will take longer, and probably requires a stir or two to prevent sticking

Pasta must be cooked in the water salted like the sea: False, that’s too salty. I don’t think anyone actually salts there pasta water this much, it’d be obvious that it’s too salty. Aim for around 2% salinity in the water. Use this to get a feel for the correct amount. In practice I’d go by taste, but this is pretty much on the money. This makes sense especially considering how much the pasta soaks up water. You must taste the water before cooking, unless you measure out the salt

Use the pasta ring to judge doneness: False-ish

Cook pasta with oil in the water: False

Cook pasta using a large pot of water: False

Dry pasta must be cooked to al’dente: False

Salted water will cook the pasta faster: False

Reserve pasta water: Personally for dry pasta, False. If you do end up wanting to reserve some water, cook it in a large pan, to maximize the amount of starch in the water. The 2% salted water that I use for dry pasta, can be too salty for pasta sauces.

Fresh pasta

Pasta is an italian word, and refers to the type of noodle. 99% of the time it’s an unleavened semolina egg noodle. There are two major pasta categories dry and fresh.

Packaged rice noodles

Fresh rice noodles

Starch noodles

A dark horse noodle. Chewy divisive texture, quick to cook, and low calorie.

Pre-cooked udon, ramen noodles

Other dry asian noodles