On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 1094

are normally colorless but become yellow in
alkaline conditions. The flavones are
especiallyconcentratedinthebranandgerm,
so less refined flours develop a deeper color.
Because they’re based on harder wheats,
southernyellownoodleshaveafirmertexture
than white salted noodles, and alkalinity (pH
9–11, the equivalent of old egg whites)
increases this firmness. The alkaline salts
(sodium and potassium carbonates at 0.5–1%
of noodle weight) also cause the noodles to
take longer to cook and absorb more water,
andtheycontributeacharacteristicaromaand
taste.
Dumplings The Chinese version of filled
pasta is thin sheets of wheat-flour dough
enclosingseasonedmorselsofmeat,shellfish,
or vegetables. Some doughs are simply made
from flour and water, but robust pot-sticker
dough is made by boiling part of the water
before adding the flour, so that some of the


starch is gelated and contributes to the
dough’scohesiveness.Theformeddumplings
maybesteamed,boiled,fried,ordeep-fried.
Japanese Wheat Noodles The standard thick
Japanese noodles (2–4 mm in diameter),
calledudon, are descendents of the Chinese
white salted noodle. They’re white and soft
and made from soft wheat flour, water, and

sal t .Ra-men noodles are light yellow and
somewhatstiff,andaremadefromhardwheat
flour,water,andalkalinesalts( kansui). Very
thinnoodles(around1mm)arecalledso-men.
Japanesenoodlesareusuallycookedinwater
ofpH5.5–6,whichisoftenadjustedbyadding
some acid. After cooking, the noodles are
drained and washed and cooled in running
water, which causes the surface starch to set
intoamoist,slippery,nonstickylayer.
Tapioca
Tapioca pearls, which are widely used to