Food & Receipts

How to classify and choose delicious and safe noodles for various dishes

Choosing the right noodles can enhance the flavor of a dish and prevent it from becoming too mushy or overwhelming. Let's explore how to classify and select noodles to make your meals delicious and safe!

Administrator

13 October, 2023

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Seaweed belongs to a wide range of popular food in Vietnam, from dry dishes to soups, such as crab seaweed, eel seaweed stir-fry, duck bamboo shoots seaweed,….

1. Classification of seaweed by color

On the market, you will find seaweed in 3 popular colors:

White seaweed, or translucent: is the basic color because it is made from various types of starch, such as rice starch, mung bean starch, glutinous rice starch,….

Pale gray seaweed (dong seaweed): made from starch of dong ginger, easily recognizable.

In addition, you can classify seaweed by packaging form, such as strand seaweed, rolled seaweed, square seaweed,… Each type of seaweed shape also depends on the user’s cooking purpose.

2. Classification of seaweed by production materials

In addition to classifying by color and packaging form, you can also classify seaweed based on the production materials:

Rice seaweed

It is mainly produced from rice starch. Specifically, the dry matter ratio of rice grains accounts for 90%, in which the amylose content accounts for about 18 – 45% in the rice grains to determine the cooking time of the rice grains.

Rice seaweed is often used for both dry dishes and soups.

Dong seaweed

It is mainly made from starch of dong ginger. People use dong ginger (also known as củ chọc, củ chuối, very similar to ginger) to make dong ginger powder.

The percentage ratio of amylose in dong ginger starch accounts for up to 25% – 30%, even higher, and is considered to be almost higher than other types of starch. In addition, the gelatinous substance of dong ginger starch is the ingredient that makes the seaweed fibers transparent, attractive, and determines the quality of the product.

There are 2 types of dong ginger starch: wet starch and dry starch. For economic benefits, wet dong ginger starch is often used to make dong seaweed, because it is cheaper and more popular among customers.

Dong seaweed is often used for soups, dry dishes, and salads.

Mung bean seaweed

It is mainly made from mung bean starch and contains a relatively high percentage of amylose, about 40 – 50% (not inferior to dong ginger powder). Mung bean seaweed is very popular because it is made from mung bean powder, which contains many other nutrients that are good for the user’s health, such as cooling down, promoting blood circulation,… and is currently replacing dong seaweed in the market.

Mung bean seaweed is often used for soups, stir-fried dishes, and salads.

Mixed seaweed

It is made from various types of starch such as potato starch, glutinous rice starch, rice starch,… and additional starch ingredients, additives depending on the manufacturer. Therefore, the texture and color of the seaweed can vary. When buying, you should refer to the seaweed composition on the package and the manufacturer’s instructions to know how to use it appropriately.

Mixed seaweed is often used for stir-fried dishes, soups, and salads.

3. Suggestions for delicious and simple seaweed dishes

Change your taste with different ways of cooking dishes from seaweed, it will create more attractive and better-nutrient dishes for daily meals. You can use seaweed to make dishes in 3 ways:

Seaweed stir-fry

Eel seaweed stir-fry:

With eel seaweed stir-fry, you should use dong seaweed, because the seaweed fibers are slightly larger and have a moderate elasticity. Before adding seaweed into the stir-fry, you need to soak the seaweed in boiling water for a suitable elasticity for your taste. At the same time, mix a little oil to prevent the seaweed from tangling before frying.

Crab seaweed stir-fry:

The method of making crab seaweed stir-fry is similar to eel seaweed stir-fry. You should also use dong seaweed or mixed seaweed. For dong seaweed, just barely soak in hot water to reduce the elasticity of seaweed.

You can also use mixed seaweed, so refer carefully to the seaweed composition on the package to know their elasticity, or soak them in warm water so that the seaweed has a suitable elasticity before stir-frying with other ingredients.

Seaweed salad, mix

Eel seaweed salad:

When making eel seaweed salad, you can use mixed seaweed but dong seaweed is more popular because this type of seaweed has the right elasticity and larger seaweed fibers. Before mixing with other ingredients, you can soak the seaweed in water so that the seaweed has a suitable elasticity.

In addition, you can also use mung bean seaweed as a replacement because it has a cooling effect on the body and is good for health. However, pay attention to the seaweed pre-cooking step – just briefly soak in hot water to prevent seaweed from overcooking before mixing with other ingredients.

Seaweed soup

Duck bamboo shoots seaweed soup:

When making duck bamboo shoots seaweed soup, most people often use dong seaweed because it has the right elasticity and larger seaweed fibers. In fact, after being rinsed through hot water, people even add dong seaweed directly to the soup pot until it has a suitable elasticity to ladle it out for consumption.

Young duck egg bamboo shoots seaweed soup:

The method of making young duck egg bamboo shoots seaweed soup is similar to duck bamboo shoots seaweed soup above, people often use dong seaweed. In addition, mung bean seaweed is also suitable because it has a cooling effect on the body and the seaweed is small, just need to pour hot water on it, you can instantly enjoy the soft noodles.