On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 1095

absorb moisture and flavor, thicken
puddingsandpiefillings,andnowadaysto
providechewy“bubbles”inteasandother
drinks,aretranslucent,glossy,andelastic,
and based on the same principle as the
starch noodle. They are spheres 1–6 mm
across made up of tapioca starch granules
held together by a matrix of gelatinized
tapiocastarch(about17%amylose).Awet
massofthestarchgranules(40–50%water
byweight)isbrokenupintocoarsegrains,
and the grains then fed into rotating pans,
where they roll around and gradually
agglomerate into little balls. They’re then
steamed until a little more than half the
starchisgelated,mostlyintheouterlayer,
and then are dried, so that a firm
retrograded starch matrix forms. When
cooked in liquid, they soak up water and
the rest of their starch gelates while the
retrograded matrix maintains their
structure.


TheJapaneseinstantversionofChinesestylenoodles,ra-men,wasbornin1958.
They’remanufacturedbymakingthin,
quicklyrehydratednoodles,thensteaming
them,fryingthemat280ºF/140ºC,andairdryingat180ºF/80ºC.
AsianStarch
andRiceNoodles

Allthepastaswe’velookedatsofarareheld
togetherbytheglutenproteinsofwheatflour.
Starchandricenoodlescontainnogluten
whatsoever.Starchnoodlesinparticulararea
remarkable,evenstartlinginvention:unlike
allothernoodles,they’retranslucent.They’re
oftencalledglassorcellophanenoodles,and
inJapanaregiventhelovelynameharusame,
“springrain”noodles.
Starch Noodles Dried noodles made out of
pure starch — usually from mung beans