How to Cook Thai Rice Noodles

Pad Thai uses Thai rice noodles as the main ingredient.

Thai rice noodles are a necessary part of many Thai dishes. The best option is to use fresh noodles. If you can't find fresh in your area, you can substitute dry noodles. Cook the noodles before adding them to your main dish. For example, if you were making pad see ew, you would cook the dry rice noodles in a separate pot while cooking the rest of the ingredients in your wok. When the noodles are done, add them to the wok as you would fresh noodles and continue with your recipe.

Things You'll Need

• 1 box dried Thai rice noodles
• Large pot
• Large spider skimmer or colander
• Wok

Instructions

How to Cook Dried Thai Rice Noodles

1. Boil enough water to completely cover the dried Thai rice noodles.

2. Add dried noodles to boiling water.

3. Cook as per package directions. Some boxed noodles have you boil the noodles for several minutes. Others instruct you to remove the pot from the heat and let the noodles soak in the water instead of actively boiling them. The important thing to remember here is to only cook the noodles to al dente, or still slightly hard. They will cook the rest of the way in your wok with the other ingredients.

4. Remove the noodles from the water with a spider skimmer and add directly to the wok when the recipe instructs you to add fresh rice noodles. If you don't have a spider skimmer, you can drain the noodles in a colander.

Tips & Warnings

• If your rice noodles are done cooking before you are ready to use them, remove them from the water after the set cooking time to avoid overcooking.

• Do not overcook the noodles. It can be tempting to cook the noodles to done-ness. Resist this temptation.

• Use fresh rice noodles within a few days of purchase.

• Do not refrigerate unopened fresh rice noodles. They will become hard and difficult to separate.

References

• Thai Table: Thai Rice Noodles