Making a meal of delicious pasta vermicelli or noodles seems like a trivial matter. One simply needs to bring water to a boil in a pot, add some noodles, boil them for a certain amount of time, and then drain. Despite the simplicity of such a scenario, some people tend to make mistakes in order to end up with undercooked, mushy, or rubbery pasta or noodles. Even vermicelli can turn from perfect al dente to an inedible, gummy, or mushy product in one fell swoop.
The good news is that there are only a few culinary sins that lead to such unsavory results.
Not Using Enough Water
A crowded pot is a bad idea. With not enough water, the strands will be close together and more likely to stick together. Using a decently sized pot with plenty of boiling water allows the pasta strands to have more room to move around. After adding the pasta to the pot, give it a gentle stir and you’ll be fine. There is no need to constantly be mixing it, a little goes a long way.
Forgetting To Check The Texture
Packet cooking instructions are often helpful, but are rarely definitive. Different pans, amounts of food cooked, and hob power can often affect how the food comes out.
This is why testing comes into play. Take a piece of the noodle out of the pan before the time you were supposed to is up and test to see how they are. If they are a little bit chewy but not really cooked then they are probably done. Leaving them in the pan for those few extra minutes could make for some pretty gross noodles.
Letting Cooked Strands Sit Around
It is an easy mistake to make. The dish may well be cooked, but food often continues to cook in the hot water.
The colander should be close at hand so that the food can be drained as soon as it is tender. One needs to be especially careful with thin vermicelli. It is best to toss the vermicelli with a little oil if they are to be kept warm and non sticky for any length of time.
Stirring Too Much Or Too Little
If you don’t stir them enough they could end up sticking in the pan. If you stir them too much you could ruin all the delicate noodles you took such good care to put into your pot in the first place. So you stir just enough to loosen them up when you initially put them in the pan.
Rinsing Everything Under Cold Water
Sometimes you might want to run them under some cold water to stop them from cooking. This can be helpful and unhelpful, depending on what you’re doing with your noodles. If you’re making a cold salad then this can help stop the cooking process and rinse off any extra starch. This can be bad though if you are making something hot because the starch helps your sauce stick to the noodles. So before turning on the tap, think about what is going into the bowl next.
Keeping The Pantry Ready
Good cooking begins long before the food hits the pan. Having different foods in your storage reduces the likelihood of grabbing anything and throwing it in the pan because you already bought it and it was sitting there. Using an online grocery delivery app may be a good way to make sure you have all the pantry staples you need when you need them.
Conclusion
Perfect texture is rarely about a complicated trick. It is mostly about noticing what is happening in the pot. Give the strands enough room, taste them before they become too soft and drain them as soon as they are ready. These little habits can make vermicelli, noodles and other favourites taste noticeably better. With an online grocery delivery app handy for regular pantry restocking, keeping the right ingredients around becomes easier too.
