Anyone have any tips for where to buy great noodles for use in stir fries and soups? In my experience with home cooking, while dried noodles totally work well in most Italian dishes, Chinese and other Asian dishes are much improved through the use of fresh or frozen noodles, as that chew is just gone when you buy them dried.
I’ve struggled to find good options. A lot of websites mention Twin Marquis noodles, but I have not seen them at Ranch 99 or other Japanese markets in LA. Ditto for frozen Shirakiku noodles.
Anyone have any tips on online delivery services or places in LA to check out?
Frozen udon noodles have been sold out for weeks/months at every Asian market we’ve tried. No luck at Tokyo Central, H Mart, Ranch 99 or Mitsuwa. It’s crazy.
We found a bunch of fresh noodles yesterday at H Mart. Not sure if they are any good.
I’ve gotten some fresh udon at Nijaya (LT and Gardena locations. Sawtelle is always a miss). That has been my safest bet during the pandemic. If in a pinch… These from Whole Foods are awesome. I used them to make some Yaki Udon recently.
For Sun Noodles, I’ve always had the best luck at Tokyo Central. They carry them all including the special cuts. Having the Jiro Ramen pack tonight… we’ll see how it goes.
Finally, H Mart, especially the one in Torrance has a strong noodle selection Chinese and vietnamese noodles. Including ‘fresh’ rice noodles for Pho or Pad Thai.
I have both a West Elm Duvet and a Samsung replacement remote waiting for me in the horizon. The Samsung customer service lady had a good laugh when we mentioned we have a family member with a boat…
I forgot to mention another thing that has been missing as of late… Kewpie Mayo. It was all out at Tokyo Central. ONE ONLY at Mitsuwa and $7 at Target…
We live in Seattle now and have an amazing Asian (and everything else in the world it seems) market, Uwajimaya. I need to check for empty shelves. Oh, and the sofa we got from them last year “only” took four months and was made in China. But it is fantastic )
Torrance Mitsuwa, Nijiya on 182nd, and Tokyo Central on Artesia are full of Kewpie. Also Torrance H-Mart. Torrance Costco has stacks and stacks of them too. As of last week, when I went to all those stores. And Costco again yesterday.
I haven’t been at the YL Tokyo Central, but for the ones I have been they keep the Sun Noodles in the Freezer vs. Nijaya who keeps theirs in the refrigerated section. I picked up some of the Jiro Style Ramen Kits. I love Jiro Ramen and this lived up all to the expectations…
While I love Sun Noodles, I’ve found their soup bases to be meh at best. I usually make my own broth and then use their bases as a chicken or tofu marinade. This one had a richness that was missing from so many and a wonderful roasty garlic flavor. I still had to add a little bit of miso for body and fish sauce for brightness…
Now the noodles. LORD. These were the chonkiest Sun Ramen Noodles yet. The package called to cook these for 10 minutes! Usually with Sun Noodles it’s more like 3-5…
We went a little crazy with toppings, grilled oyster mushrooms, plenty of on Bean Sprouts and of course jammy egg with a sprinkling of Petu-Ya Mexican Shishimi… So good… Will make again!
Glad to hear! I was at Tokyo Central Artesia two sundays ago… ALL out. And then saw the “one only” sign at Mitsuwa Mar Vista this Friday. We did the honest thing and got one… although that $7 bottle today at the USC target was calling me…
Do not buy the Twin Marquis brand of noodles. My wife threw them away. They tasted bad and had a awful consistency reminiscent of cardboard. I didn’t try them but my kids said they tasted like school lunch pasta.
We’ve tried several versions of noodles that come with sauces and out of all the brands the Pulmone versions are the best. The noodles have a bit of chew so long as you cook less than recommended. The sauce packets are generally very good. We add other items to enhance the bowl of noodles. For jjampoong we will add some seafood. For the jjajiangmein we add cucumbers. In a pinch these help round out a meal or make a good quick meal.
For soups. I like the fresh super skinny egg noodles you get a H-Mart. They are sometimes called Wonton Noodles and they are crinkly. They are a local chinese brand I get from H Mart or 99 Ranch.
For Stirfry, as of late I have been using the Woon Kitchen Noodles. They are just amazing. I get them from Cookbook.
Okay! I went to a conference at UCLA recently and checked out the Noodle selection at the new 99 Ranch!! These are the super skinny egg noodles I was taking about… several brands make them….
They are super easy to make. Bring a pot to boil, toss in the noodles, loosened from their ball. They stay in the boiling pot for less than a minute. Then put in a bowl, rinse, drain…. Quickly dunk them again to warn them up again if dry. Or just pour over soup… Serve!!
Today I made them dry with some home made Char Siu pork and stir fried Veggies. An absolutely delicious and quick dinner.
