Flour for Japanese noodles

Japanese noodle flour must be prepared so that it has the characteristics that suit the preferences of Japanese consumers. Japanese eating habits have been influenced mainly by rice, leading to the so-called ‘rice culture’.

Noodles can be made from either red wheat or white wheat. However, white wheat has an advantage over red wheat for making noodles because the bran specks from the white wheat are less conspicuous.

The characteristics of noodles are related to the flour type used for noodle dough. Flour rather rich in gluten - either all purpose or bread flour is used for wheat noodles.

Wheat protein content is an important determinant of noodle quality. As flour protein increases, noodle firmness increases.

Soft wheat is used for Japanese white salted noodles, whereas hard wheat is used for yellow alkaline noodles.

The hardness of wheat has an influence on the milling process. The particle size of soft wheat flour is finer than hard wheat flour and generally, soft wheat flour is lower in protein content than hard wheat flour.

Numerous researchers have provided evidence that moderately high swelling wheat starch in flour is important to the quality of Japanese salt noodles. By contrast, wheat flours with low swelling starch are preferred for alkaline noodles in Japan.
Flour for Japanese noodles