Gluten-Free Panfried Noodles are Doable and Astonishingly Good

when you don't want to have wheat but want crispy panfried noodles, here's an easy option

Hello everyone!

I hope your week went well. Next week, we’ll be on a wee bit of a much-needed vacation. Given that, you’ll hear from me again on June 12 with a Midweek Gem.

But before we go anywhere, I’ve been noodling around for you!

Liz recently joined us as a paid PTFS subscriber. She was curious about the crispy panfried noodles blueprint from last week and emailed a great question

Hi Andrea,

A quick question. Today's article about pan fried noodles made me want to ask you. I tend to avoid gluten. How would rice noodles work in this panfried dish? Firm. Wide. Narrow. Pad Thai type? Wanted your advice. Thanks so much.

My answer about the possibility of a rice noodle pancake was a resounding “YES!” but to provide Liz with an answer she could actually use, I played around with a favorite recipe of mine and made it better!

I do my best to respond to your culinary questions, and when there’s a recipe request that I think many PTFSrs will be interested in, I’ll share the info with the group. Often times, when one person wonders about something, other people are thinking the same too. I had a hunch about this gluten-free take on panfried

Look at that color. It and matches the wood background! 😆

Is this Chinese? Crispy panfried rice noodles are mostly a Vietnamese thing, but rice noodles were a Chinese thing that arrived in Vietnam. The noodle pancake is called Phở Xào Dòn in Vietnamese. Just like with panfried Chinese wheat noodles, you rarely get the rice version crispy at a restaurant. Given that, they’re better done at home.

So you get a close up look at the noodles! I held off on putting about half of the sauce on because I took this photo hours before dinner time.

Below herein, you’ll find the full shebang for making a crispy rice noodle pancake, including:

• What kind of noodles to buy

• Why (and how) you can fry up rice noodles to be so damn crispy good! Rice doesn’t brown well unless you nearly burn it. But, I’ve got a technique that I’ve used for years, but this week — for Liz and for you — I did something to make it better.

• The full text recipe, downloadable PDF plus the video pointers serve to encourage you to try out the recipe and technique too.

This post goes with the dispatch containing the blueprint for making low-guilt crispy, veggie-loaded panfried noodles (swap this pancake for the wheat one). Yes, I’m just an enabler. Go for it ALL!

Rice noodle sourcing tips

I’ve used fresh chow fun noodles but the dried ones are quite good for pan-frying. Three Ladies is a great brand and this size is basically pappardelle size, labeled as XL. They last practically forever in your pantry so I always have one or two packages on hand. East and Southeast Asian markets carry Three Ladies. Some Thai brands label this big size noodles as “Wide Rice Noodles.”

You may try brown rice pappardelle made by Jovial. They may work. They’re sold at Whole Foods and other similar grocers. (Let us all know if you try Jovial out!)

My Trick for Crispy Rice Noodles

I coat the noodles with a slurry of cornstarch, salt, oil, and a little sugar. I’ve long used granulated sugar but today, I tried agave and the color was 👌. I didn’t think it would make that much of a difference, to be honest.

The secret to crispiness -- 4 pantry items plus water!

Water hydrates it all to make the mixture stick onto the boiled noodles. Without the coating, you can’t get the noodles to crispy up very well. Trust me. I’ve tried.

Crispy Rice Noodle Pancake Video Tips

I’m glad this video turned out well because I was out of noodles. I didn’t have another round if I messed up.

If you use a cast-iron or carbon steel skillet for the noodles, let us know how it went! I was too scared to try it for the video. 😅

RECIPE

Panfried Rice Noodle Pancake | Phở Xào Dòn

The above stir-fry had broccoli, kale, cabbage, tofu, shrimp, snow peas and half a leftover Sunburst squash, plus shrimp and tofu. The panfried noodle blueprint recipe is built for winging it with the stir-fry. And now you have 2 noodle options to boot! 🥳

✅ If the noodles softened while waiting for the stir-fry, refry them over medium-high heat for 1 to 2 minutes to re-crisp. If they dried out (they feel somewhat hard, borderline plasticky) refry with a splash of water and cover to rehydrate; add oil as needed to coax back crunchy chewiness.

✅ I basically use half of a package of noodles for 4 people. You can do the math pretty easily to scale the recipe up or down.

Panfried Rice Noodles Master Recipe

220KB ∙ PDF file

Download

Very crispy. For gluten-free folks and everyone else. Ha. Go for it!

Download

Serves 4

• 200 to 225g | 7 to 8 oz dried wide flat rice noodles

• 3 to 4 Tbsp neutral oil

• Fine sea salt

• Stir-fry topping (see blueprint recipe here)

• 3/4 tsp agave syrup, honey, or sugar

• 1 1/2 Tbsp cornstarch

• 1 1/2 Tbsp water

Cook the noodles: Bring a medium-large pot of water to a boil over high heat, add the noodles, then cook them at a bubbly pace until done but slightly firm, about 7 minutes. Drain, flush with cold water, and drain again. Transfer to a baking sheet. Toss with 1/4 tsp salt and 2 tsp oil. Then spread the noodles out to dry and cool completely, about 15 minutes, before continuing. Or, cool, cover and refrigerate up to 3 days; return to room temperature before seasoning and panfrying.

Prep the stir-fry ingredients: Follow the blueprint recipe to get things ready and lined up by the stove so you can easily stir-fry them after panfrying the noodles.

Coat the noodles just before panfrying: In a medium bowl, stir together the salt, sugar, cornstarch, and water; add the noodles and toss to coat. To panfry the noodles, use a medium nonstick skillet and heat to medium or medium-high. Add about 2 Tbsp oil to film the bottom of the skillet. Add the noodles, spreading them into a large pancake. Let gently sizzle for 4 to 5 minutes, until golden or golden brown on the underside (check the rim or lift to peek) and stuck together as a nest of sorts.

Confidently slide and shake the skillet then jerk it to flip the noodle pancake. (Or be safer and flip the noodles onto a plate or lid then slide them back into the skillet.) Drizzle about 1 Tbsp of oil around the perimeter, then continue frying the noodles adjusting the heat as needed, until crisp chewy and pale gold, 3 to 4 minutes. When done, slide the skillet into the oven to keep warm.

Stir-fry the topping as instructed in its recipe. When done, take the pancake off heat, or bring it out of the oven. Slide the noodles onto the serving platter, with the crisper and more handsome side up. Cut with kitchen scissors into 4 or 6 wedges. (Or cut the noodles on a cutting board before positioning them on the stir-fry.) Top with your stir-fry goodness and run to the table to eat it all up.

If I goofed somewhere or you need clarification, don’t hesitate to holler.