Manufacture of Rice based Asian Noodles

Manufacture of Rice based Asian Noodles
For decades there have been products on the market that are made from materials other than wheat or rice, but are included in the Asian (oriental) noodle category.

One of the most fascinating Asian (oriental) noodles made from materials other than wheat or rice are mung bean threads, sometimes called cellophane or transparent noodles by Westerners.

This product has the unique property of being transparent like clear cellophane after it is cooked.

The best mung bean threads can stay in their original shape and remain intact for about 2 days after being cooked and kept in the soup.

This is because of their unique starch gelling properties, which also provide very good al dente properties.

True (pure) mung bean threads are made from mung bean only. However, the products today on the market may contain mung bean and other starch materials like broad beans and other starches.

The bottlenecks of making true mung beans threads include the intensive labor required and liquid waste disposal.

The liquid waste is fairly rich in nutrients as it contains all the vitamins, minerals and proteins in the mung bean.

In the past, this waste was used as animal feed.

Attempts have also been made to recover the protein from this liquid waste.

Because of these problems, it is understandable that material other than mung beans, improvements in technology are being considered.

Korean sweet potato vermicelli (“dang myun”) is a product similar to mung bean threads with transparency after it is cooked.

However, the vermicelli is colorless, but kind of light brownish green.

It also has very good al dente properties. Japanese “harusame” is also a similar starch noodle product as it is made also made from starches from potato, sweet potato, rice or mung bean.
Manufacture of Rice based Asian Noodles

Manufacture of Fresh Asian Wheat and Rice Based Noodles

Manufacture of Fresh Asian Wheat and Rice Based Noodles
Considerable amounts of fresh Asian (oriental) noodles are produced for retail market, restaurant trade, and a household.

Wong Ton Mien is one of the alkaline wheat based noodles produced for a fresh retail markets common in Taiwan.

Similar products are also produced elsewhere.

The production steps are similar to production of dry white-slated noodles, with basic mixing, sheeting, rolling, and cutting steps.

It should be noted that a differently shaped product called “pian er mien” (sheeted mien) is produced by similar procedures with or without alkaline salts; instead of cutting the dough sheets into thin stripes, the sheets are cut into about 1 inch squares.

Also, the fresh Won Ton Mien can be dried into dry Won Ton Mien, like other wheat-based “mien.”

Fresh oily wheat based “mien” are unique, in that oil is added to the cooked “mien” or “fen” to provided a special mouth feel and al dente.

They are common in southern China and southeastern Asian countries.

The oily, alkaline wheat based “mien” are sometimes called Hokkien-type noodles. The procedures of preparing the raw “mien” are essentially the same as other alkaline wheat based “mien.”

They are then boiled once or twice, or steamed until they are completely cooked before coating with oil and food coloring.

Another oily product is the Cantonese oily rice based “ho-fen” (rice stripes).

It is produced first by preparing a rice slurry from rice flour, followed by steamed a thin layer of the slurry on an oil coated stainless tray or bamboo sheet.

The gelatinized “fen” is then folded into layered slabs followed by cutting of the slabs into stripes.

These noodles are much thicker and broader than the Chinese “hand-cut mien” or Japanese “udon.”

Oily rice based “ho-fen” is very soft and smooth in texture.

The granular size of rice flour used has a definite effect on the quality of the final product, as the difference in granular size can be detected easily.

The original “ho fen” as made with wet-milled rice flour with a very fine texture. However, it is much more costly to make, and has the liquid waste disposal problem similar to dry rice noodles.
Manufacture of Fresh Asian Wheat and Rice Based Noodles

Rice Based Dry Asian (Oriental) Noodles

Rice Based Dry Asian (Oriental) Noodles
Rice noodles (“mi fen” or rice stick) are a deviation of Asian (oriental) wheat-based noodles in that rice is the basic structural component.

In addition, traditional procedures for the production of rice noodles involve the wet-milling of rice to remove the soluble constituents in the rice kernel, and the gelatinization of the rice starch.

This process is tedious, and involves the problem of liquid waste proposal, even though it is not high in biological oxygen demand.

A modified procedure is to use rice flour directly instead of the wet-milled rice flour, thus avoiding the liquid waste proposal problem.

It should be noted that dry milled rice flour is not the same as the wet milled rice flour, and the quality of the final product is not expected to be the same.

It is generally believed that wet milled rice flour has a smoother texture after gelatinization.

Consumers should be aware that that in the recent years, some manufacturers have begun to use corn starch or other starched partially or completely instead of rice flour to make similar products, and still call them “rice stick.” They have similar properties, but are not as good as the original noodles (rice stick).
Rice Based Dry Asian (Oriental) Noodles

Rice Noodle Processing

Rice Noodle Processing
Rice noodles are widely consumed in China, Japan and Southeast Asia countries since ancient times. The raw material for rice noodle is nonglutinous rice, which is highly elastic and sticky. The use of nonglutinous rice enables easy extrusion of the dough. Like noodles, this rice should not stick together or break. The yield from the rice is about 95%.

The conventional processing method is limited largely to sun drying. There are exceptions using hot-air drying.

Rice noodles in Japan are sometimes called harusame. In China, the noodle made from mung bean or starch other than rice is called fung-Shu (or tong-fun). The differences between these two kinds of noodles are the raw materials and also tong sun is more transparent. The Chinese noodle after extrusion should be frozen and then dried. It can also be cooked for a longer time without becoming pasty.

Instant rice noodles are a specialty developed in Taiwan. The processing method for instant rice noodles is almost identical to that for the conventional rice noodles, except that instant noodles can be easily reconstituted in hot water in just a few minutes. To attain the quick reconstitution characteristic, the steamed rice should be dried at a high temperature to prevent the gelatinous starch from reverting to raw starch. Normally, hot air at a temperature of 80 degree C is used for drying, but some plants are using frying instead of hot-air drying in a tunnel drier.

Nonglutinous rice (preferably 92% milled rice) is soaked in water for 2- 4 hr, ground and mashed into a rice paste, which is then pressed to force out the excess water. This product is steam for 80 min, then kneaded and shaped into a column from which raw rice noodle is extruded. The raw rice noodle is steamed for 30 min, dipped into high temperature higher than 80 degree C. The final product (instant rice noodle) is then cooled and packaged.
Rice Noodle Processing