How To Cook Rice Noodles For Spring Rolls

How to make rice noodles for springrolls, soups, noodle bowls and wrapping dishes. When you need fully cooked noodles for you favorite Asian dish, this is my go to cooking method. I find most rice noodles do not need any prior soaking before cooking except large Vermicelli noodles AKA "Bun Bo" noodles. When you are cooking larger "Bun Bo" Noodles or some of the thick Pho noodles you should soak them in luke warm to cold water for at least an hour and up to 24 hours. Regardless of the brand or shape of the rice noodle, it's important to start with almost boiling to boiling water. If you add you noodles when the water is too cold, the texture will never be quite right. Once you add your noodles to the boiling water i keep a close eye to keep the water from coming back to a rolling boil. Ideally you want to cook the noodles just at a simmer until they are cooked through. If they boil periodically its ok, but if you leave the heat on high and let them boil hard you run the risk of the noodles breaking apart and turning to mush. Using the suggested cooking time on the bag, i will continue tasting the noodles periodically until the texture is where i want. Once the noodles reached my desired texture I will strain them and start rinsing them with cool water to stop the cooking and remove the excess starch. After the noodles have been cooled they will harden slightly and feel wet. Let them hang out for about 10 mins and the noodles will reabsorb the water and become that familiar rice noodle texture we all love. They are now ready to be used in your desired dishes.