Rice noodles are a lot of fun. 
Rice noodles, are long, dried strands of rice pasta made from rice flour, water, and possibly salt. They should only contain these two or three ingredients. They keep indefinitely if stored in a cool, dry, place. They are quick and easy to make. Toddlers (and adults) love them, as they are gentle on the stomach, kind of chewy (if not overcooked) and fun to eat. Rice noodles, especially in a bowl of soup, are comforting and soothing.
Brands I Trust
I have yet to fully explore the great wide world of rice noodles. They are a gazillion brands. As a person with an allergen-restricted kitchen, I am very cautious and wary when trying new brands and new products. When I find a product I like, I tend to stick to it unless I have a compelling reason to mess with my tried and true foodstuff.
I use two brands: Three Ladies for pho/spaghetti-, linguine-, and fettucine-size rice noodles, and Bun Thap Chua for rice vermicelli.
The Three Ladies label will show (what else?) three ladies in green, blue, and red. Bun Thap Chua’s label is mostly red, pink, and white. It shows a three-story, old-school Chinese building with a bridge that goes over a waterway.
Three Ladies is a company that focuses on rice products in Thailand. They deal in great volumes when it comes to rice. Their rice noodles are available in size small, medium, and large. The size refers to the width of the noodle. Small is what you might find in your average bowl of pho. (Think spaghetti width.) Medium is about the width of linguine width, and large is comparable to fettucine size-wise.
Bun Thap Chua, which comes from the People’s Republic of China, makes a stellar thin, wiry rice noodle that company calls “rice sticks” on the label (think vermicelli width). It has great texture and bounce — real personality. Unlike some other brands, it doesn’t get mushy and blech.
Both brands are well-regarded. I use them exclusively as far as rice noodles go.
Using This Ingredient
Three Ladies rice noodles are awesome. They are especially wonderful on days when you don’t have much time but have leftovers in the fridge that won’t seem to pull together easily into a meal.
Here’s what I typically do: Soak the rice noodles till they’re softened enough to bend easily. (The package says soak for an hour, but 15 minutes is enough time for me.) In a hurry, you could skip the soaking altogether and just cook a few minutes longer. But soaking really does help maintain the noodles’ texture.
Meanwhile, boil some leftover chicken broth in a different pot. Wash and cut up some baby bok choi. Throw greens into the boiling broth to cook the veggies for several minutes till just done. If you have leftover meat, slice thinly (to facilitate cooking or reheating) and throw it in.
(Make sure it’s actual baby bok cho. Like the name indicates (“bok” means white), the non-leafy green part of bok choi should be white. For some reason, people tend to sell another leafy green as “bok choi,” and that veggie tends to be slightly bitter — just bitter enough to inspire a toddler revolt.)
Next, drop the soaked noodles into a separate pot of boiling water for almost a minute. Then, dump noodles into a metal colander and rinse with fresh cold water. Divide the noodles up into single servings and place in bowls. Ladle out hot vegetable/meat/chicken soup over noodles. Viola! Breakfast/lunch/dinner is served.
You can also stir fry the soaked noodles with some veggies, meat, and/or tofu (though I’m generally too lazy to do this.) The possibilities are endless.
I find the small size to be the most versatile and easiest and fastest to cook (though medium is all right, too). For soups, I like the small size best. I also use it to make red-sauce spaghetti. If you have homemade spaghetti sauce or sauce out of a jar that you trust to be allergen-free, you can soak the noodles, boil one minute, rinse, drain, and add heated sauce. (or skip the rinse/drain and just add cold sauce if you’re lazy and don’t mind additional starch on the noodles).
Medium size rice noodles work well both in soups and stir-fried with maybe some veggies, tofu, and/or meat. Yum…. Large size noodles (imagine fettuccine width)– well, I admit I don’t like large much, as I find the noodles shatters too easily when dry (perhaps I’m too rough with it). But I could see the wider noodles substituting nicely for sah ho fun, which my mom used to stir-fried with beef flank steak cut against the grain, bean sprouts, and a good amount of soy sauce. Yum….
As for Bun Thap Chua rice vermicelli, I typically use them in four ways. Of course, I could always soak them and stir fry them with meat, tofu, and veggies or add them to my filling for cha gio, a Vietnamese fried roll.
More likely, though, you’ll find me boiling them unsoaked for three minutes and adding them to a salad roll (or goi cuon)l, which is not fried and consists of a rice paper wrapper that is soaked to soften, then wrapped around cooked meat/tofu/veggies along with raw veggies and herbs, and dipped into a homemade hoisin-based or Sunbutter-based dip.
Or, I might add into a bowl some shredded lettuce, Asian basil, mint, and whatever cooked meat or tofu I happen to have on hand, then plop the boiled/rinsed/well-drained rice vermicelli on top, sprinkle on some fried shallots if I happen to have any on hand, and then pour some nuoc cham over the top and voila! Instant happy meal. 
Served alongside a hot broth (or even a hot cup of tea), the above salad rolls or rice noodle bowl would be a nice, well-rounded meal, full of flavor, colorful contrast, and textural and temperature interplay.
Where to Find
Unfortunately, I can’t find these brands on Saipan where I live, so my good friend Ayako regularly ships them to me. Thank you so much, Ayako!!!
Saipan markets offer a version of the Three Ladies fettuccine-size rice noodle; it’s from the Marry brand. Pearl River, a wholesaler, offers its own version of dried sah ho fun, which is similar. Both cook well enough and I’m guessing they’re probably OK allergen-wise, but right now, I’m hesitant to introduce a new brand into the kitchen. X.O. Market on Middle Road offers a wide selection of all kinds of noodles. I kinda sorta remember seeing Marry Brand at 99 Market on Middle Road. Pearl River is also located on Middle Road.
Back home in the San Gabriel Valley, I’ve found both Three Ladies and Bun Thap Chua at Shun Fat Supermarket in Monterey Park and at Hawaii Supermarket in San Gabriel. I have no doubt they’re also sold elsewhere, I just haven’t figured out where yet. Bun Thap Chua appears to have greater distribution than Three Ladies in the SGV.
For the greatest pan-Asian selection of rice and other noodles, I strongly recommend Hawaii Supermarket in San Gabriel. To avoid crowds, go on a weekday if possible. Weeknights are even better — the parking lot is practically empty. If you go there on a weekend, good luck! The parking lot is big, but the crowds are bigger. We usually park a block or two down on Valley, BTW.) The market is also well served by bus lines.
While Hawaii Supermarket has the greatest breadth is terms of brands and selection of dried foodstuffs, sauces, and the like, I generally shop at Shun Fat Supermarket for those items when I’m back home. Shun Fat has far fewer brands, but the brands they do sell are typically the brands I want. They have almost (almost!) everything I want.
Combined with totally chill parking lot, Shun Fat makes for a great alternative to Hawaii Supermarket. I love the full-service meat and fish counter at Shun Fat; it’s huge and the butchers and fish folks are nice and helpful. I miss them very much.
Category: Ingredients Tags:
