Has anyone ever had those Miracle Noodles (Shiratake noodles)?

miinanov

Are they actually 0 calories and healthy?
What recipes do you guys make with them?

Chef_Barbell

Nope they smell too fishy for me and gross. :sick:

dfwesq

There are a lot of different brands. Some are almost zero calories, and some are more than that, but still low. They're a traditional Japanese food made of a soluble starch, and they taste fine to me. A lot of people say they have to wash them first, to get rid of the smell that some brands have.

They work OK in recipes that call for noodles or other pasta, though in my experience they don't freeze well. They work pretty well in noodle soups. They might work in place of pasta but the texture is different - a little more elastic than real pasta - and the taste might be different too.

Alatariel75

I've tried them, I'm not a massive fan but they have their uses. You need to rinse them REALLY well, and they're no good with things that don't have a strong flavour. I'd never use them in rice paper rolls, for instance. They're ok with a flavourful stirfry sauce. Texture is a bit weird.

I have some sitting in the cupboard, now that I think about it.

psuLemon

I have used them several times. The ones I have are mixed with some tofu, so the calories are roughly 15 per serving. I have used it with parmesan chicken and even with meatballs. Just make sure that you really rinse them well and dry fry them.

AmyOutOfControl

I tried them once. It was literally the grossest thing I have ever tasted.

DietPrada

Thing to remember is they are a NOODLE not a PASTA. They will not taste nice with a tomato or cream sauce (pasta style). They are, however, good (and guilt free) in an Asian dish with a good strong sauce. I generally stir fry up some meat and veg, add a sauce of your liking, rinse the noodles well in hot water, drain and throw into the pan, fry for a minute or two and serve.

ladipoet

EbonyDahlia wrote: »

Thing to remember is they are a NOODLE not a PASTA. They will not taste nice with a tomato or cream sauce (pasta style).

I use them to replace regular pasta in pasta dishes and I find they work quite well for that for me. FWIW, they tend to take on the flavor of whatever sauce you put on them.

rosebarnalice

I actually like them. But I don't try to pretend they're pasta.

I use them in salads with strong flavored ingredients like tuna, sardines, or kimchi. I also like them added to veggie stir fries.

The somewhat odd fishy smell can be reduced by rinsing them well, and if I cut them up in to small pieces, which helps with the rubbery texture.

VlpW

I'm still traumatized by trying them...the smell, the rubber band texture...just nope for me.

estherdragonbat

They work in Asian noodle recipes. I used them because I'm trying to work through a cookbook (1,000 Vegan Recipes) recipe by recipe, in order. I started about 6 years ago with the snacks. I'm now in the bean main dishes. But when I was in the noodles section... there was one for Asian noodles in spicy peanut sauce. And I'm plugging the ingredients into the recipe builder. And I'm seeing the numbers climb. Rice noodles, oil, peanut butter... I wasn't finished inputting and the calories-per-serving were already up past 800! It was better when I tried changing the number of servings from 4 to 6. Then I decided to see what happened if I switched out the 1lb of rice noodles for Shiratake. And at 4 servings, calories went down to just about 400!

They won't work well with Italian-style recipes. I can't think of using marinara sauce with them and having it end well. But in a stir-fry or Asian noodle salad? They'll be fine. Drain them first, rinse them, boil them for a couple of minutes and then dry them by draining and putting in a dry skillet on medium for a couple of minutes.

Alatariel75

estherdragonbat wrote: »

They work in Asian noodle recipes. I used them because I'm trying to work through a cookbook (1,000 Vegan Recipes) recipe by recipe, in order. I started about 6 years ago with the snacks. I'm now in the bean main dishes. But when I was in the noodles section... there was one for Asian noodles in spicy peanut sauce. And I'm plugging the ingredients into the recipe builder. And I'm seeing the numbers climb. Rice noodles, oil, peanut butter... I wasn't finished inputting and the calories-per-serving were already up past 800! It was better when I tried changing the number of servings from 4 to 6. Then I decided to see what happened if I switched out the 1lb of rice noodles for Shiratake. And at 4 servings, calories went down to just about 400!

They won't work well with Italian-style recipes. I can't think of using marinara sauce with them and having it end well. But in a stir-fry or Asian noodle salad? They'll be fine. Drain them first, rinse them, boil them for a couple of minutes and then dry them by draining and putting in a dry skillet on medium for a couple of minutes.

Just wanted to say, that's a really cool challenge to set yourself!!

... and way healthier than my similar challenge to try every beer in the book "1000 Beers to Try Before You Die"

dfwesq

ladipoet wrote: »

EbonyDahlia wrote: »

Thing to remember is they are a NOODLE not a PASTA. They will not taste nice with a tomato or cream sauce (pasta style).

I use them to replace regular pasta in pasta dishes and I find they work quite well for that for me. FWIW, they tend to take on the flavor of whatever sauce you put on them.

There are several different kinds. Some have really smells or strange textures, and others less so, depending on the recipe. One of them is more western-friendly and is made with some soy instead of only soluble fiber. I think that one may work better as a pasta substitute if you really want to use them for that. There are also varieties made with seaweed that are a little more flavorful in an Asian-style noodle soup.

One thing about the texture: they don't cut or break easily like cooked pasta will. So if you don't want to try to eat extremely long noodles, you may need to cut them up on a cutting board before adding them to your recipe.

43501

miinanov wrote: »

Are they actually 0 calories and healthy?
What recipes do you guys make with them?

Not "0" calories but pretty damn close. They are healthy. Shirataki comes from konyakku, which is a tuber like a yam, if I remember correctly. You can get blocks of konyakku from an asian grocer and they behave a bit like tofu.

I'll reiterate what everyone else said: these are for eastern-style noodle dishes, NOT pasta. Think of your ramen/soba/udon/etc dishes. You make them in broth and toss in meat, vegetables, eggs etc. They are actually mostly water and will take on the flavor of whatever you cook them in.

Be sure to rinse them very thoroughly, several times if you have to. The liquid they come in is what gives it that "fishy" smell.

As for texture, I have no idea what people's problem with it is. They're exactly like vermicelli/thin rice noodles but don't break apart as easily (hence the comparison to rubber).

I will add one more thing, from personal experience... If you have digestive issues, be careful about how much you eat and how often. I would eat it literally every day if I didn't get debilitating stomach aches from it every now and again.

dovnkels

I made a stir-fry with these and found that the noodles refused to be chewed!

Noreenmarie1234

So gross

hgycta

I like them, but I like a lot of weird things (like squid in Asian recipes, not the fried kind). It doesn't remind me of noodles but it's definitely a filling option when you use up your calories on something else! Just make sure you save calories for pasta sauce or something I would never recommend eating them plain xD

NewMeSM75

VlpW wrote: »

I'm still traumatized by trying them...the smell, the rubber band texture...just nope for me.

^^^ This!

inertiastrength

I really wanted to love these but as soon as someone said fishy I knew exactly how it would go down. I'd rather make room for less real pasta or pass altogether, that kitten sounds nasty af

elpint0r

They're super nasty, don't kid yourself

GottaBurnEmAll

I've found the level of fishiness varies by brand. The brand I get (Better than Noodles) isn't very fishy smelling. It's a blend of the konjac root and oat fiber, so they're about 35 calories per package, but still really low calorie. I rinse them a bit, dry fry them, and they're good to go. I haven't tried them in anything other than Asian dishes.