It’s been a long time since many of us have eaten noodles. Nabil and I dropped all processed carb sources years ago for health reasons. He for diabetes, and I for fatty liver. In addition, both of my teens have dropped most carbs in order to better regulate hormonally-caused inflammations like acne. So… no noodles for us, even though we’re all huge fans. But since we started Keto, I learned about konjac noodles, also known as Shirataki or miracle noodles. They are made from the fibrous root of the konjac plant and it is a carb that passes right through the gut, no absorption. Which means it cannot spike blood sugar or signal your body to store fat.
There is a problem with these noodles. Out of the package they have a horrible, fishy smell. It’s a truly disgusting smell. So they require rinsing and soaking. As long as you do this well, though, the smell goes away and there is nothing but a neutral flavor left. The other problem is that they’re a bit rubbery in texture.
The first time I tried these, I thought a pesto sauce would scratch that pasta itch that we all had. But nobody could get past the noodles’ texture. So that was a fail. But then a few months later I got a hankering for ramen. We tried it, but used leftover brisket and the flavor wasn’t quite right.
A few more weeks went by, and then Maya was craving Pad Thai. So we tried again, this time soaking and rinsing the noodles for an hour before starting. And this time we followed a recipe. The same rubbery texture that was so off-putting the first time really worked incredibly well for Pad Thai!
Now we’re excited to try ramen again, this time with a meat that is less spiced and maybe a home-made bone broth…