Week 9 – Consulting an Expert

Jet and I went to a noodle restauraunt together on Tuesday for dinner. The name of the place is LAN Noodles. Their kitchen is surrounded with windows, so you can see where the chef is pulling the noodles. They even have a font window so you can see in from the outside! I ordered beef pulled noodles and so did Jet. After we finished eating, we waited for the chef to finish his next batch of noodles so we could ask him a couple of questions. We asked him what indredients he used to make the noodles. He told us that he uses baking powder, flour, water and oil. We also asked him how he makes the different thicknesses. He told us it was less of seeing how thick it is, it is more the softness of the dough. He said if the dough is softer, it will make thinner noodles. If the dough feels more rigid, it will make thicker noodles. To shape the noodles all you have to do is twist or press them into the right shape.

Week 7 –

Me and Jet met up yesterday to make rice noodles. We used xanthan gum, rice flour, tapioca starch and boiling water. Xanthem gum is an effective thickening agent and is used to prevent ingredients from seperating. Rice flour is just used the same way as in other foods. Tapioca starch nakes the food fluffy, light, and spongy in texture.

Our first batch of noodles came out very well. We then made another batch, but it kept falling apart. The second batch failed because we poured the boiling water in too fast. After the noodles were finished being made, we boiled some. We didn’t think to make a soup before we made the noodles, so I quickly whipped up some soup made of ginger, green onions, and beef stock.

Looking back on this now 2 weeks later, it would have helped to make the dough first, knead it so it was softer, and then put it in the machine. It also would have helped to remember to make a soup before the noodles.

Week 6 –

We were not able to work together on our planned date because Jet was sick. We are planning to get together on Wednesday or Tuesday to make the rice noodles. I contacted Jet earlier in the day, and he confirmed that he should be able to come over to my house on one of the mentioned days. We decided to start working on contacting an expert. We have yet to decide who that expert is yet, but I think I can say with confidence that we will be able to get our project done in time. Here is an example of what rice noodles look like.

Week 4 –

We are planning to make rice noodles next week. We have all the ingredients required to make them, but we still have to plan when we want to meet up. The materials most commonly used to make rice noodles are rice flour, tapioca starch, salt, water, and vegetable oil.

Week 3 –

During spring break, me and Jet made Udon noodles. We used gluten, flour, potato starch and water to make the noodles. Jet’s dad made the soup for the noodles. There were some mushrooms in them, and they tasted very good. My conclusion is that we did a good job on these noodles, and we will do rice noodles next.

Week 1 – New project

For my next project I have decided to make noodles with Jet. We have already made some noodles at my house before this for a baseline. We did have help from my dad though, so we will work toward independently making the noodles. This is a picture of the end result of the noodles. This is a type of noodle called youpomian. When all the seasoning and ingridients are on the noodles, you pour hot oil on them, and it mixes the flavour together. Here are some pictures of us preparing the flour and water and making the noodles.

Week 14 –

I emailed my expert. Her name is Vanessa Hettinger. She was my power skating coach for 3 years, and I contacted her to ask her if she had any free time to chat about how people learn how to skate and if trainers are even useful. I also finished my email to Kevin, our rink maker, and he gave me permission to put the trainer on the rink. He was also willing to talk about if the trainer would be helpful for the rink.

UPDATE:

I heard back from Kevin. He is available to talk on friday. I also heard from my powerskating coach. Apparently, she is no longer instructing at Quantum Speed, so I will have to talk to another coach, Al. Kevin also said that there is an event at the rink on Monday, so it is the perfect time to donate the trainer.