Ramen Noodles from Scratch

Whenever I get a cold, I get a craving for spicy noodle soup.  Somehow it helps the congestion, I am convinced.  With ramen noodles on the brain, I found this link with detailed instructions on making them from scratch.  It didn't seem any harder than making regular pasta so I got to it.

Flour, egg, water and salt.  It's great when something is so incredibly simple.  Ingredients we all likely have at home.  Next time I will double this.  As it is, it is enough for two servings.

3/4 cup flour
1 egg, beaten
3/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp water

Make a well in your flour, add the egg and water and stir it all up.

Place dough on a floured surface and give it a good knead.  It is ready when it's nice a smooth and doesn't stick to your hand.  Wrap it in a damp tea towel to rest.  I left it for an hour, Instructables recommends  30 mins in summer and up to 2 hours in winter.  My kitchen was pretty warm from making pita chips so one hour seemed to suffice.

Roll it out on a floured surface, you want to get it really thin.  I didn't go thin enough and will make sure to roll it out more next time.  It really seems to 'puff' a bit when cooked.

I have a pasta machine, but a rolling pin will work just as well.  I found this one at the Salvation Army Store for $10.  You do find some great kitchen tools there!
Once you have it super thin - 1mm is recommended and I might check it next time to make sure.  Mine were a bit on the thick side even though I thought they were 1mm.  Dust with flour, fold in half, dust with flour and fold in half again.  Make sure there is lots of flour between the layers so they don't stick when cutting.  Slice thinly.

dust them again with flour to keep then from sticking.

I made my soup right away, so I had one pot of boiling, salted water and one pot with chicken stock at the ready.  I also made some chili oil to drizzle on top as I wanted it to be spicy.  Boil your noodles for 3-5 minutes depending on how thick.  Taste one to see if it's done to your liking.  After dropping them in the water, give a stir so the noodles don't clump.

I had some toppings ready as well, it is January and like everyone else, I have resolutions to eat healthier!

You really could put ANYTHING on this soup.  And use anything for the soup base.  My chili oil wasn't as spicy as I would have liked....I was hoping for a running nose and to break out into a sweat.  Next time!  Despite that, it was super tasty and the noodles had a pleasing chewiness to them - so different from the packaged noodles that we are used to.

I hope folks try these noodles, they were super easy to make and ramen noodles in broth is the perfect antidote to a cold dreary day.  Next stop: Sip'n'slurp at the Ottawa Convention Centre February 22, to get some flavour ideas for my noodles!