Cooking Rice Noodles Doesn’t Have to Be a Sticky Situation

Rice noodles are an important part of the Sun Basket pantry. We use them in soups, stir-fries, or Vietnamese-style bowls. Sometimes we serve them hot, other times we like them cold, but regardless of temperature, our chefs recommend cooking the rice noodles in your Sun Basket the same way every time. 

First, bring a medium sauce pot of water to a boil. Add the rice noodles and cook until just tender, 8 to 10 minutes.

Then comes the tricky part. The starches in rice noodles ride or die for each other, come what may, they want to stick together. That level of dedication can cause some problems for your dinner. To prevent the noodles from getting too attached, drain and immediately rinse the cooked noodles in cold water to stop the cooking and wash off the starch. Then, toss the noods with a teaspoon or two of neutral oil. It’ll act as an insurance policy against that clinginess. Toss the oiled noodles every 5 to 10 minutes to keep them separated while you prepare the rest of your meal. 

If the noodles are going straight into a stir-fry, skip the cold rinse and drop them right into the pan so the sauce and oil can coat the noodles and prevent sticking. Pro tip: The outer layer of starchiness isn’t always bad, in this case, it’ll help thicken the sauce, too.