I made homemade chicken noodle soup. After storing overnight in the refrigerator, I noticed the noodles had absorbed most of the broth. How do keep this from happening?
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All pasta does this because the rehydration process does not stop when you stop cooking them. To prevent it you just boil enough noodles for the amout of soup you are serving and add them as you serve each bowl. I actually boil my noodles in the soup so it does absorb the broth for flavor.
I agree with Makata. I make large batches of chicken soup and freeze meal sized containers. When I'm ready to use it I add some noodles and only cook until done.
We NEVER add our noodles to the soup until later. We store in a separate container and only add noodles to soup once it has been reheated
The heat of the soup warms the noodles.
Yes I agree with others who keep their noodles separate, this is an old trick. I have found if I buttered the noodles and put a bit of oil in them they so they separate easier, if they are cooked already and ready to add to the soup base.
Agreed with the previous posts! When I cook spaghetti I keep the sauce and pasta separate until re-heating time. I just can't resist sharing a funny story about cooked pasta because of the 'wet noodles' question. Hope it gives you a laugh :-)
When I was in my mid-twenties I gave a dinner party. The main dish was Greek spaghetti and meatballs. Anyway, by the time company left I was too tired to do the dishes so just gave them a quick rinse and set aside. In the morning I went to wash them and when it came to the pot I cooked the spaghetti in there were still a few noodles dried to the bottom of the pot. I had recently cut my fingernails (which I usually used to scape food particles with) really short.
Well, I proceeded to vigorously scrape the dried spaghetti out and guess what happened? One piece of dried spaghetti went shooting in between my thumb and thumb nail almost to the cuticle :-o To make matters worse I immediately tried soaking my thumb in water thinking it would help get it out :-o Wrong!
What happened? The spaghetti expanded and made the pain even worse :-o Talk about the old fashioned Chinese Bamboo Torture Treatment ;-) To add insult to injury once at the emergency room the nurse was giggling and asked the doctor, "How do you get a noodle out from under a nail?" I can tell you it wasn't fun ;-) It was horrifying at the moment but I laugh at my stupidity now ;-)
Anyway, noodles absorb and expand when wet :-)
Thank you all for your responses. Now I know how to prevent this from happening the next time!
Deeli: OUCH! But please do tell us, what is "Greek spaghetti"? Sounds intriguing!
Have you tried cooking in a pot separate.If you want them to have some flavor, add chicken bouillon to the water. This way they have soaked up most of what,they are going to.
Thanks for asking, Jan :-)
My paternal grampa immigrated here from Greece in 1917. Here is our family recipe :-) I make extra because the sauce and meatballs freeze well :-) Hope you all will try it and let me know what you think :-)
Tampourlos Family Greek Spaghetti & Meatballs
1 lb Hamburger
2 tbls diced onions
12 saltine crackers, crushed
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tbls grated orange rind
1/4 tsp salt
Dash of pepper
28 oz can tomato sauce
spaghetti
Combine all ingredients, except pasta, and 'round' into dollar size balls. Brown meatballs in a skillet on medium heat. Transfer the meatballs, and the hamburger grease from browning them, into a baking dish. Add the tomato sauce. Bake covered for 45 minutes at 350 degrees. Cook your choice of pasta "al dente" and smother with sauce and meatballs.
Serve with Greek Salad (tomato, cucumber, red onion all cut your favorite way; tossed with olive oil, red wine vinegar, crumbled Greek feta cheese and pitted Kalamata olives). Also serve with a side of feta cheese, Kalamata olives and French bread with room temp unsalted butter.
I love noodles that absorb more flavor, why stop that, just add more broth, and so good you don't want to stop. Makata has got it right, I boil the noodles in broth so it does get in the noodles.
I've worked is a lot of restaurants and we always kept the pasta separate. Just cook pasta toss with a little oil store it in an air tight container in the fridge. Put small amount in your bowl pour hot soup over pasta. No need to reheat pasta.
All of these posts are so unhelpful. If campbells and progresso can do it than there is an answer.
To make noodles/pasta less absorbent when they're done cooking, first you need to add a little oil to your boiling water, then you drop in the pasta.
That will help change their "makeup". Best also to add oil to your drained pasta too, to keep it from sticking.
To minimize absorption of the pasta, add oil to your boiling water (*before* you put the pasta in to cook). Then cook your pasta in the oiled boiling water, then drain, and then again add a little oil to keep the noodles/pasta from sticking together once they're done.
It's a really old post, from 2008. But I did a little internet research and it looks like there are a few possibilities on how commercially canned soup keeps the noodles from getting soggy.
One might be that they don't cook the noodles entirely, but add them into the mixture only partially cooked. That way, the noodles can slowly absorb the liquid after being canned.
People also suggest that egg noodles are generally used instead of pasta. Egg noodles don't absorb as much water.
Or they might just be really small noodles that don't feel so mushy when the canned soup is eaten.
Here is an interesting article I found online, which might also give you some information:
www.seriouseats.com/
I'm glad you posted that link, now I know too. Yes, the best way, or only way to keep pasta from absorbing anything, is only to keep them separate.
My SIL is an expert in the food industry and when I asked her why canned soups have pasta that doesnt absorb the broth, her answer was that they make a pasta that is different than what WE can buy in the store. Its specifically created for canned soups to avoid absorbing all the broth. It doesnt expand like the store-bought pasta. She suggested draining, rinsing and tossing the pasta in olive oil to help coat the surface. This can help reduce how much it absorbs.I have also let my pasta sit in the water with bullion to expand first, then coat it and add it to the soup.
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I completely agree!!!
Thanks for all the great answers! Im trying to recreate my moms chicken noodle soup with barley and have had problems with the noodles soaking up the broth. Im going to try keeping the noodles separate and see how that works. I know Im straying from my moms original recipe but I did make my own broth and the broth and veggies without the noodles tastes really good too. Glad I was able to find this link. Thanks again!
how do I keep the noodles from absorbing all the broth after splitting it into containers & refrigerating?
Cook your soup without water, with the base, precooked noodles. Add water as needed
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