absorb moisture and flavor, thicken puddings and pie fillings, and nowadays to provide chewy “bubbles” in teas and other drinks, are translucent, glossy, and elastic, and based on the same principle as the starch noodle They are spheres 1–6 mm across made up of tapioca starch granules held together by a matrix of gelatinized tapioca starch (about 17% amylose) A wet mass of the starch granules (40–50% water by weight) is broken up into coarse grains, and the grains then fed into rotating pans, where they roll around and gradually agglomerate into little balls They’re then steamed until a little more than half the starch is gelated, mostly in the outer layer, and then are dried, so that a firm retrograded starch matrix forms When cooked in liquid, they soak up water and the rest of their starch gelates while the retrograded matrix maintains their structure The Japanese instant version of Chinesestyle noodles, ra-men, was born in1958 They’re manufactured by making thin, quickly rehydrated noodles, then steaming them, frying them at 280ºF/ 140ºC, and airdrying at 180ºF/80ºC Asian Starch and Rice Noodles All the pastas we’ve looked at so far are held together by the gluten proteins of wheat flour Starch and rice noodles contain no gluten whatsoever Starch noodles in particular are a remarkable, even startling invention: unlike all other noodles, they’re translucent They’re often called glass or cellophane noodles, and in Japan are given the lovely name harusame, “spring rain” noodles Starch Noodles Dried noodles made out of pure starch — usually from mung beans ... them, frying them at 280ºF/ 140ºC, and airdrying at 180ºF/80ºC Asian Starch and Rice Noodles All the pastas we’ve looked at so far are held together by the gluten proteins of wheat flour Starch and rice noodles contain no gluten.. .The Japanese instant version of Chinesestyle noodles, ra-men, was born in1958 They’re manufactured by making thin, quickly rehydrated noodles, then steaming them, frying them at 280ºF/ 140ºC, and airdrying at 180ºF/80ºC... remarkable, even startling invention: unlike all other noodles, they’re translucent They’re often called glass or cellophane noodles, and in Japan are given the lovely name harusame, “spring rain” noodles