Making Noodles

News from Japan is horrifying. Images of destruction flash across my television. Every day the death toll rises. It seems everyone in the world is holding their breath as nuclear facilities leak, financial markets react, and aftershocks continue. Many people are still missing. I can not even imagine the horror of not being able to find a loved one. I have been praying for everyone.And I've been making noodles.

For some reason I find comfort in making noodles.I find comfort in eating noodles, too... but today let's just talk about making them.

By the way, there are a number of delicious and unique Japanese style noodles... ramen, shirataki, udon, and soba, to name just a few. I like all those noodles! But I don't know how to make any of them. I only know how to make countrygirl noodles. I'm not a talented noodle maker... but that's one of the glorious things about noodles... you don't have to have any special sills to make really good ones!

Start with eggs, flour, and salt. I usually start with two eggs and a heaping cup of flour. Dump flour out on a clean counter top, sprinkle with a pinch of salt and then use your fingers to make a well in the hill of flour. Drop eggs into the well. Ooops. Sometimes this happens. Like I said, you don't have to have any special talent to make tasty noodles. No one ever even has to know this happened (unless you post a picture of it on the world wide web).

Use a fork to gradually whisk flour into eggs.The mixture will become too thick to mix with a fork. Start using your hands to knead the flour in. You may need to sprinkle more flour onto your counter top.Keep kneading and adding flour until the mixture is easy to handle and not sticky.Then wrap it in a piece of plastic wrap and set it aside for at least an hour, maybe a few hours. Letting it rest seems to make it easier to roll out later.After it has rested use rolling pin to roll noodle dough as thin as possible.

Some people roll the dough up into a tube and cut long strips off. I don't do it like that. I use this broken old spatula like a dough scraper to cut the dough into strips...
Then I use it to cut the strips into noodle sized pieces.I do this on a parchment lined baking sheet.Cook noodles right away or leave them on the parchment to dry. I store dried noodles in a sealed container in the refrigerator, and I usually use them within a few days.Maybe you, too, will find comfort in noodles.