Silver Needle Rice Noodles 在來米篩目

Silver needle rice noodles are a Taiwanese snack made from gelatinized rice paste, traditionally served to farmers as a mid-work energizer. They make for a versatile base that can be eaten cold, hot, sweet, or savory.

The classic rice used to make this dish is zailai long-grain rice, which is dry and robust while still maintaining a delicate aroma. The resulting needles retain their shape well and have a slightly firm and bouncy texture.

Learn to make fresh silver needle rice noodles using zailai long-grain rice grown by rice farmer Chuang Yu-Chih. To hear more about Chuang and watch a recipe demo, check out this video.

Silver Needle Rice Noodles Made from Zailai Long Grain Rice
在來米篩目

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 300g of Zailai Long-Grain Rice
• 250g of water, for making the rice paste
• 125g of cold water

Recommended Equipment:

• Vitamix, or a blender or food processor that can handle tough ingredients
• Piping bag or alternatively, a plastic bag

Instructions

Creating the Rice Paste

1. Wash the rice in a bowl. After washing, fill the bowl of rice with water, so that the water is roughly 1 cm above rice level. Soak for 3-4 hours, then drain.
2. After draining, pour the rice into the Vitamix. Add 250g of water. Blend on high speed for about 1.5 minutes, or until the rice paste is smooth, with no grains.
3. Pour 300g of the blended rice paste into one bowl, then separate the remaining mixture into another bowl for later use. Add 125g of cold water to the 300g of rice paste.

Preparing the Rice Paste for Gelatinization

1. Transfer the rice paste and water into a pot. Using low heat, stir the mixture continuously until the paste gelatinizes, or becomes sticky and transparent. (Note: to avoid over-gelatinization, make sure to keep the heat on low and stir consistently.)
2. After the rice paste has gelatinized, take it off the heat and add the remaining rice paste from the other bowl. Combine the two together until the mixture reaches a slightly thick consistency. Then, let it cool.

Making the Noodles

1. To make the noodles, fill a pot with water and bring to a boil. While you’re waiting for the water to boil, fill a piping bag with the rice mixture. If you don’t have a piping bag, you can use a plastic bag with the corner cut off for piping the rice paste.
2. Slowly squeeze the rice paste from the piping bag into the boiling water to create the rice noodles.
3. Once the noodles float to the top, they are cooked and ready to serve. Scoop them out with a strainer to cool. To prevent sticking, rinse with cold water.
4. The noodles can be served hot or cold, savory or sweet. Siang kháu Lū incorporates the cooked noodles into a stir fry with mushrooms, shrimp, and other aromatics to create a dish full of fragrance and flavor; the recipe can be found here.

Recipe by: Siang kháu Lū Cultural Kitchen