Homemade Alkaline Ramen Noodles

Fact-checked on paper only. This recipe has not been cooked or tested yet.

Why this works

Alkaline salts turn wheat flavones yellow and make noodles more elastic than plain wheat noodles [Wikipedia, Alkaline noodles]. Kansui is mostly sodium and potassium carbonate. Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) can be heated in the oven to turn into sodium carbonate, which is the usual home substitute [Biting at the Bits]. Here the dough is 140 g water to 400 g flour, which is 35 percent hydration by weight. That is our house starting point and has not been cooked or tested yet. The total time covers mixing, the 1 hour rest and boiling. Baked baking soda is a separate make-ahead step that takes about 1 hour 20 minutes.

Yield: 4 servings (about 480 g fresh noodles) Times: prep PT30M, cook PT5M, total PT1H35M (ISO 8601)

Equipment

• Kitchen scale
• Stand mixer with dough hook, or food processor
• Pasta machine or rolling pin
• Plastic wrap
• Large pot
• Sheet pan with parchment
• Safety glasses and gloves (for baked baking soda)

Ingredients

• 400 g (about 3 cups + 2 Tbsp, weigh it) bread flour
• 140 g water
• 4 g (3/4 tsp) fine sea salt
• 4 g (1 tsp) kansui powder (Option A, follow the package if it differs)
• 6 g (about 1 1/4 tsp) baked baking soda (Option B, see below)
• Cornstarch for dusting

Steps

1. Option B only: heat the oven to 250 F (121 C). Spread 60 g baking soda thinly on a foil-lined sheet and bake 1 hour, stirring halfway. In a glass dish add 20 to 30 minutes. Weigh it after it cools: it should lose roughly one-third of its weight. In theory sodium bicarbonate loses about 37 percent when fully converted, so if you lost much less, bake longer. Store in a labeled jar.
2. Dissolve the salt and the kansui or baked baking soda in the water.
3. Put the flour in the mixer bowl. With the hook on low, drizzle in the alkaline water. Mix about 3 minutes until shaggy.
4. Knead at medium-low for 8 to 10 minutes until smooth and springy.
5. Wrap tightly and rest 30 minutes at room temperature, then 30 minutes or overnight in the fridge.
6. Cut into 4 pieces. Roll each through the pasta machine from the widest setting down to about 1.5 mm.
7. Cut with the narrow cutter for thin noodles or the wide cutter for thick ones. Dust with cornstarch.
8. Boil in plenty of unsalted water 60 to 90 seconds, then drain and add to the assembled bowl at once.

What to watch for

• Dry, crumbly dough: spritz with water a teaspoon at a time.
• Sticky dough: dust the table and rollers.
• Baked baking soda is a skin and eye irritant. Wear gloves and glasses, keep the dust out of your face, and label the jar [Biting at the Bits].
• Skin contact: wash with plenty of water. Eye contact: rinse and get medical help.
• Keep the baked soda away from acids and from food storage shelves.

Storage

• Fresh noodles: refrigerate airtight and use within 3 days. This is house guidance; we found no tested figure for homemade alkaline noodles.
• Freeze portions on parchment, then bag them. Use within 1 month. Boil from frozen and add 30 seconds.

Allergens: Wheat, gluten.

Pairs with

Tonkotsu (cut thin), shoyu bowls (medium) and miso bowls (wavy, thick).

Sources

1. Wikipedia, Alkaline noodles (flavones turn yellow at alkaline pH; sodium and potassium carbonate): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alkaline_noodles
2. Biting at the Bits, baked baking soda (250 F / 121 C for 1 hour; skin irritant): https://bitingatthebits.com/how-to-make-baked-baking-soda-for-alkaline-noodles-and-homemade-recipe/

Citation links

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alkaline_noodles
• https://bitingatthebits.com/how-to-make-baked-baking-soda-for-alkaline-noodles-and-homemade-recipe/