Cooking noodles in a wok can be made easier by adding them quickly after softening, ensuring the wok is hot, and adding oil just before the noodles. Parboiling, soaking, or cooking thick noodles before adding them to the wok can prevent flaking and absorb more flavor. Adding noodles in small batches can prevent steaming and sticking, and drying the noodles before cooking can create a crispier texture. Adding reserved liquid can prevent dryness.
There are a few tips that can help make the process of cooking noodles in a wok easier. Some tips, like adding noodles to the wok quickly after they’ve softened or drying the noodles before putting them in the wok, might not seem obvious at first. Other aspects, like ensuring the wok is hot and pouring the oil into the pan just before adding the noodles, are pretty standard for cooking most foods in a wok. Just like other types of foods, it’s important to keep the amount of noodles in a wok to a manageable level to ensure they don’t combine into a gooey lump or start steaming instead of frying, unless steamed noodles are what you want. that the recipe calls for.
When cooking noodles in a wok, some types of noodles need to be parboiled, soaked, or cooked before being added to the wok. When especially thick varieties like udon noodles or soba noodles are cooked in boiling water, removing them from the water just before they’re fully done will allow them to finish cooking in the wok. This helps prevent the noodles from flaking too much and also gives the noodles a chance to absorb some of the flavors from the wok. Likewise, noodles should be added to the pan as soon as possible pre-cooking, as they will absorb the maximum amount of flavoring soon after being removed from the water and won’t absorb as much if allowed to cool too much beforehand.
Most types of noodles have starches that tend to sit on their surface. This allows sauces and other small ingredients to stick to the noodles in a wok, but it also creates a situation where starches can burn or stick to the wok. The best way to cook noodles in a wok to avoid these problems is to add the noodles to a hot wok that has had cold oil added just before the noodles. The oil will act as a lubricant and can mitigate some of the excess starch, while the heat from the wok will work in much the same way to prevent sticking. If the noodles start to stick together after a few minutes, you can add more oil to lubricate the pan.
When a large amount of noodles is being fried, it can be helpful to add the noodles to the wok in small batches. Placing too many noodles in a wok can create a clump that will result in steamed noodles instead of stir-fried noodles. Adding a manageable amount of noodles to the wok can also ensure that each piece gets coated in oil, making them less likely to stick together.
In some cases, it can help dry the noodles when you transfer them from the water to a wok. This removes excess starches and will allow them to crisp faster if that is the desired result. One trick is to reserve some of the liquid the noodles were soaked or boiled in, and add that starchy liquid to the wok if the sauce or noodles start to get too dry.
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