Rice noodles are a wonderful air-dried gluten-free product with less than 1% fats. Being translucent, the flat varieties are known as “cellophane” noodles. It’s already precooked, but it’s so hard that it’s not good to eat without soaking in water first. It gets lusciously soft when wet and stays very well even in hot water.

The noodles have to be thin to help it soak up water very quickly, usaully in 1-2 minute in hot water. Sometime the noodles stick together and this is a problem because thick clumps do not soften easily. I have noticed this problem occasionally with rice noodles. When adding hot water to rice noodles, stir it to prevent sticking. It’s also a problem to heat in the microwave, unless it’s soaked well first.

Rice noodles are very popular in Vietnamese “Pho” noodle soups which have been a phenomenal success as so many “Pho” noodle shops are springing up everywhere.