Freeze Dried Noodles Are The Way To Go!
When Asian noodles can be bought at rock-bottom prices, buy as many as possible – and, turn the bulk of them into freeze dried noodles – with your very own Harvest Right Home Freeze Dryer!
Noodle varieties are endless. But, here are two specific Asian noodles that are being freeze dried. Japanese folks consider them a mainstay in their noodle diet – Yakisoba noodles – and Udon noodles.
Before getting into the freeze drying process, let’s get to know a little about these tasty noodles.
Yakisoba Noodles…
The name, Yakisoba – in Japanese – means “fried noodle.”
It is a Ramen-style noodle made from wheat flour – and, combined with a myriad of vegetables (commonly cabbage, onions, carrots, bean sprouts, or any other veggies of your choice) – as well as a special “Yakisoba sauce” (made with Worcestershire sauce, oyster sauce, ketchup, soy sauce and sugar or honey – the noodle is an excellent component of many stir fried dishes.
More often than not, a meat is added to the stir fry – pork, fish, chicken, ham, beef, or hot dogs – even Spam, potted meat, and Vienna sausages have been found in Yakisoba entrées!
Toppings added to the finished dish are usually shredded-pickled ginger, fish flakes, fish sauce, or seaweed powder.
Privately, I’ve been known to load Yakisoba into a hamburger or hotdog bun – with a little mayonnaise – and topped with red, shredded pickled ginger. A real treat to eat – if I do say so myself! I know that this may be an American way to consume these noodles – but, try it sometime – you may like it!
Don’t tell anyone – but, in a pinch – when preparing a spaghetti dish and no spaghetti noodles are available – I’ve opted to use Yakisoba noodles as a tasty substitute.
Udon Noodles…
These extra thick noodles are also made with wheat flour.
They serve as an ingredient in a variety of soups and stews. But, they are most commonly eaten “as is” – either piping hot (in the winter) – or ice cold (in the summer).
They taste great when dipped in soy sauce – spiced up with a touch of Wasabi (basically Japanese-style horseradish).
In the summer, Udon noodles are regularly served on a bed of ice cubes.
These thick and juicy noodles can really fill you up!
And – YES – I’ve also made sandwiches with these noodles, too – as well as utilizing them as a spaghetti noodle substitute.
Freeze Drying Yakisoba And Udon Noodles
To make the freeze drying process as simple as possible, I actually leave the noodles in their original packaging – slicing open one end of the package – and making sure to remove the packets of Yakisoba sauce that are included in the Yakisoba packages. I don’t want to freeze dry the sauce packet contents.
After loading the trays, I pop them into my Harvest Right Home Freeze Dryer – press “START” – select “NON LIQUID” – select “NOT FROZEN” – make sure the drain valve is closed (at right angles to the drain hose) – and select “CONTINUE.” See Harvest Right Home Freeze Dryer Operation for more detailed information about the operation of this freeze dryer.
Then, in about a day-and-a-half – or less – the noodles are freeze dried and ready for final packaging – for long term storage.
Udon noodles ready for freeze drying and Udon noodles after freeze drying look the same:
Packaging Freeze Dried Noodles
Preparing freeze dried noodles for long term storage has got to be just about the easiest task I have ever accomplished!
- Just load the freeze dried noodles – still in their original packaging – into Foodsaver bags. Don’t forget to include the packets of Yakisoba sauce in the bags containing Yakisoba noodles.
- Stick an oxygen absorber into each bag.
- Vacuum seal the bags with a Foodsaver Vacuum System.
- Write the contents and vacuum date on the bags.
- Store on your long term storage shelf – for up to 25 years!!!
And, that’s it!
Finito! Processo se completato! It’s a done deal!
Reconstituting Freeze Dried Noodles
Place the noodles in a bowl of room temperature water until the noodles are saturated all the way to their core. This could take as little as 10 minutes for the thin, stringy Yakisoba noodles – to as long as an hour or so for the thicker Udon noodles.
Then, use the noodles just as you normally would – if they were fresh from the store.
Nothing to it, huh?
Freeze Drying Is Great!
I wouldn’t know how to act if I didn’t have my Harvest Right Home Freeze Dryer for adding great culinary goodies to my long term storage of food goods!
I can tell you one thing – this freeze dryer has saved me tons of money since I broke down and finally decided to invest in one. In other words, my Harvest Right Home Freeze Dryer has paid for itself – many times over!!!
Comment below or email me with your questions and stories about freeze drying!
