Rice Noodles: Types, Widths and Whether to Soak or Boil Them
Rice noodles are made from rice flour and water, and you know them from Southeast Asian and southern Chinese cooking, for example from pad Thai or phở. Thin rice noodles cook in hot water in a few minutes; wide rice ribbons for the wok are soaked first and finished in the pan.
Fact sheet
- Also known as
- Rice Noodles, Reis-Vermicelli, Reisbandnudeln, Bún, Bánh Phở, Sen Lek, Sen Yai, Ho Fun (河粉), Kway Teow, Bihun
- Origin
- Südchina und Südostasien
- Taste
- neutral, leicht nach Reis, weich mit leichtem Biss
- Substitute
- für Salate und Sommerrollen Glasnudeln, für gebratene Gerichte zur Not breite Weizennudeln (nicht glutenfrei)
- Storage
- getrocknet trocken und verschlossen im Schrank, frische Reisnudeln gekühlt und innerhalb weniger Tage verbrauchen
- Where to buy
- Asia-Regal im Supermarkt, Asialaden (frische Ho Fun im Kühlregal), online
What are rice noodles?
To make rice noodles, producers grind rice with water into a dough or a thin batter. They press it into strands or steam thin sheets and cut them into strips. Some types contain a little tapioca or corn starch to make the noodles more elastic. Rice noodles taste neutral, slightly of rice, and absorb broth, sauce and herbs well.
Rice noodles are naturally gluten-free. If you have to cook gluten-free, still check the ingredient list and the notes on traces.
Don't confuse them with glass noodles. Glass noodles are made from mung bean or other starch and turn transparent when cooked. Rice noodles stay white and opaque.
Types by width
| Type | Shape | Typical dishes |
|---|---|---|
| Rice vermicelli (bún, bihun, sen mee) | thin and round | Bún chả, summer rolls, bihun goreng |
| Sen lek, bánh phở | flat, about 3 to 5 millimeters wide | Pad Thai, phở |
| Sen yai, ho fun (河粉), kway teow | flat, 1 to 2 centimeters wide, often fresh | Char kway teow, pad see ew |
| Bánh hỏi | very thin, pressed into mats | Side for grilled meat |
Dried rice noodles come in all widths. Wide sen yai taste best fresh; you find them in the refrigerated section of an Asian grocery store.
Soak or boil?
The width and the dish decide how you cook rice noodles. As a guideline:
- Thin vermicelli for salads, summer rolls and bún: boil for 2 to 4 minutes, or cover with boiling water and let stand for 5 minutes. Then rinse cold and drain.
- Flat noodles for soups such as phở: soak for 20 to 30 minutes in cold water and boil for 30 to 60 seconds just before serving. Or skip the soaking and boil them as the package says.
- Flat noodles for the wok as in pad Thai: soak only, don't boil. The sauce in the pan does the rest.
- Fresh wide noodles: don't soak. Gently separate the layers. If they are hard from the refrigerator, pour hot water over them briefly.
Preparing rice noodles for the wok
- Put dried noodles in a bowl and cover with lukewarm water.
- Soak for 20 to 30 minutes, until they are pliable but still have a firm, white core in the middle.
- Drain well. A teaspoon of oil keeps them from sticking together until you stir-fry.
- Toss in the wok with a little liquid, sauce or water, for 2 to 4 minutes, until they are soft and have absorbed the sauce.
Common mistakes
- Cooked too long: Rice noodles turn mushy quickly and break. Better to taste a minute early.
- Not rinsed: Cooked vermicelli sticks into a lump without cold water.
- Precooked before the wok: Noodles that are already soft fall apart when stir-fried.
- Too little liquid: Soaked noodles stay hard in the wok. Add water or broth by the spoonful.
- Too much at once: In a crowded wok the noodles steam instead of fry. Cook large amounts in two batches.
Dishes with rice noodles
For Pad Thai you stir-fry soaked sen lek with egg, tofu, shrimp and a sauce of tamarind, fish sauce and palm sugar. The page Tamarind explains the sour ingredient. In Vietnamese Phở Bò the noodles sit in a clear, spiced beef broth; in Phở Xào they are stir-fried in the wok with beef.
Thin vermicelli go into Bún Chả and fresh summer rolls. You need wide noodles for Char Kway Teow and Pad See Ew, which you can also make with narrower noodles.
Substitutes, buying and storage
For salads and summer rolls, glass noodles can replace thin rice vermicelli. Wide rice noodles are hard to replace; in stir-fried dishes wide wheat noodles work in a pinch, but then the dish is no longer gluten-free. You can find more on wheat noodles under Mie noodles.
Vermicelli and flat rice noodles sit in the Asian aisle of most supermarkets. Asian grocery stores carry all widths, often fresh ho fun in the refrigerated section too. Online you get larger packs.
Dried rice noodles keep a long time in a dry, closed container; the best-before date is on the package. Keep fresh rice noodles refrigerated and use them within a few days. Cooked leftovers turn firm in the refrigerator; cover them with hot water or heat them in a pan with a little liquid and they soften again.