Ramen noodles with baked baking soda

Mise en place — set out in the order it goes in

1. 

   Baked baking sodafrom the jar, 12 gStep 2

2. 

   Waterwarm + coldStep 2

3. 

   Floursbread + all-purposeStep 3

4. 

   Dusting starchStep 5

Prep order — what happens when, and what overlaps

The baked soda keeps for months in its jar — after the first batch, skip the first bar.

Step by step

1. 

   1Bake the baking soda

   1 h (once)

   For this step

   • Baking soda60 g (about 4 tbsp) — enough for 3 batches

   • Line a tray with foil and spread the baking soda out in a thin, even layer.
   • Bake at 120 °C (250 °F) for 1 hour. It loses about a third of its weight as it turns into sodium carbonate.
   • Let it cool, tip it into a glass jar, close it and label it. It’s a much stronger alkali than baking soda now — handle it with gloves, keep it away from eyes and don’t taste it.

   

2. 

   2Make the alkaline water

   ~3 min

   • Wearing gloves, stir until fully dissolved:
     • baked baking soda 12 g (4 tsp)
     • warm water 100 ml
   • Then add:
     • cold water 100 ml

   

3. 

   3Mix the dough

   ~2 min

   • Put in a large bowl:
     • bread flour 200 g
     • all-purpose flour 200 g
   • Pour in the alkaline water while stirring with chopsticks, then work it together with your hands.
   • It will look too dry and crumbly — that’s right; it comes together while kneading and resting.

   

4. 

   4Knead, rest, knead

   ~1 h 30 min

   • Knead for 5 minutes, pressing hard with the heel of your hand — the dough is stiff.
   • Wrap it and rest 20 minutes.
   • Knead another 5 minutes until smooth, wrap again and rest 1 hour (fridge is fine).

   

5. 

   

   5Sheet it

   ~10 min

   For this step

   • Cornstarch or potato starch2–3 tbsp

   • Cut the dough into 4 pieces and flatten each one with your palm.
   • Run each through the pasta machine on the widest setting, fold in half and run it again — 3–4 times until it’s smooth.
   • Then step down to the third-thickest setting (about 1.5 mm), dusting with starch so it doesn’t stick.

   

6. 

   

   6Cut and portion

   ~10 min

   • Run the sheets through the thin cutter, pulling the noodles out from underneath rather than pushing them.
   • Toss with a little starch and shape into loose nests of about 130 g.
   • Cook now, keep in a bag in the fridge 2–3 days, or freeze the nests and cook them from frozen.

   

7. 

   7Cook

   high2 min

   • Boil in plenty of unsalted water for 1½–2 minutes — taste one: springy and cooked through.
   • Lift out with a strainer, shake off the water well, and straight into the bowl.