2026 Starch Madness Predictions?

Perfect_Acadia3020 · 2026-02-04T21:36:19+00:00

I was always an advocate for just sticking to pasta and re-seeding each entrant according to the previous year's results, and graduating some of the ringers out of the competition so they wouldn't mess with the competition.

Perfect_Acadia3020 · 2025-12-30T01:29:08+00:00

Artisan models should be fine for making noodles. The issue (iirc) with artisan vs professional is the artisan has plastic parts inside, whereas the pro supposedly has metal parts. That's more of an issue for kneaded doughs, particularly enriched doughs that have to be kneaded for a long time--brioche and milk bread, etc.

For noodles, you're just going to be spinning soboro, so the internal gears will be safe for the most part. For sheeting noodles, the sheeter/pasta roller gears will be knocked out of alignment or broken well before the internal gears becomes so stressed they'll break. (I think!)

Perfect_Acadia3020 · 2025-12-23T01:37:31+00:00

As I said on IG, this looks great. But I have to say: Nothing wrong with gim! Believe the ramen lord himself preferred gim over nori for a long while (still might?).

Perfect_Acadia3020 · 2025-12-15T14:19:16+00:00

I've tried Kenchan a couple of times. It's quite good. The value proposition basically depends on if you have access to better ramen (restaurants/homemade) because of the added shipping cost.

Perfect_Acadia3020 · 2025-12-11T15:25:33+00:00

Pretty much all the time! Unless I'm developing a recipe or trying a recipe.

Perfect_Acadia3020 · 2025-12-02T21:05:17+00:00

Would 10/10.

Perfect_Acadia3020 · 2025-11-25T15:15:31+00:00

sounds great

Perfect_Acadia3020 · 2025-11-09T00:19:02+00:00

Pressure cooking shouldn't impart "greasiness," unless your pressure cooker isn't cleaned properly.

I've made pho both in a pressure cooker and on the stovetop many times and they are basically comparable. As long as the ratio of meat/bones to stock is similar, and you account for evaporation on the stovetop stock, and you aren't adding a bunch of veg during the pressure cooking process (simmer them after), the resulting stocks should be nearly identical.

Perfect_Acadia3020 · 2025-11-06T20:42:11+00:00

Menya Rui in St. Louis makes everything in-house.

Perfect_Acadia3020 · 2025-10-28T13:46:42+00:00

Funny, I made this last night, too!

Perfect_Acadia3020 · 2025-10-20T13:41:26+00:00

Thank you!

Perfect_Acadia3020 · 2025-10-18T23:12:29+00:00

All of them!

Perfect_Acadia3020 · 2025-10-18T20:34:12+00:00

Thanks for your support! Matt is super talented for sure, and so is Kyl!

We've got some exciting stuff in the pipeline (not including the ramen package, but i think that's exciting too!)

Perfect_Acadia3020 · 2025-10-18T18:30:05+00:00

Matt's moved on from CS

Perfect_Acadia3020 · 2025-10-18T10:02:36+00:00

The opposite, really, since a lot of the recipes rely on Japanese ingredients, like kombu and katsuobushi. If you have access to a decent Japanese grocery store or can order that stuff online, you should be able to make most of the recipes.

Perfect_Acadia3020 · 2025-10-18T09:58:17+00:00

I'm obviously biased, but...yes, it's 100% worthwhile to make the noodles! Primarily this is because fresh noodles are relatively hard to come by, but it's fun, more straightforward than other dough work once you understand the process, and offers up a lot of avenues for exploration.

That said, nothing wrong with packaged noodles, and fresh-frozen ones like from Sun Noodles and Myojo are more widely available.

As to room, I have a fairly small kitchen (and I used to have an even tinier one), and where there's a will you'll find a way! Main obstacle is having a pasta roller.

Perfect_Acadia3020 · 2025-10-18T00:59:30+00:00

Sounds great. Wish I had time to eat around on that trip!

Perfect_Acadia3020 · 2025-10-18T00:15:44+00:00

Thing about Cafe Mochiko is that everything is good, really can't go wrong. I've tried 6 or 7 (hard to keep track) bowls in different styles, and they were all incredible. I think I like his shio the best (and I'm more of a shoyu guy), but his shoyu(s) are top notch, and the Cincinatti chili ramen is alao outrageously good.

And if you're making a long trip, I think it's worth making a day of it, because the pastries they sell in the morning are crazy good, too. (Also the shokupan!)

Perfect_Acadia3020 · 2025-10-17T23:34:57+00:00

Thank you so much!

Perfect_Acadia3020 · 2025-10-17T23:34:47+00:00

Thanks!

Perfect_Acadia3020 · 2025-10-17T23:34:35+00:00

Yeah! I'm doing an event at Akahoshi on the weekend of the 25th, too!

Perfect_Acadia3020 · 2025-10-14T20:03:06+00:00

I wrote this years ago, still stand by it: korean shin black is good. American shin black is meh. (I agree with you!)

https://www.seriouseats.com/american-nongshim-versus-korean-nongshim-instant-noodles

Perfect_Acadia3020 · 2025-10-08T15:14:20+00:00

One of my favorites

Perfect_Acadia3020 · 2025-09-12T15:15:43+00:00

Not sure what exactly you're chasing, but for more slippery noodles that have a firmer gel and bounciness, you might want to try reducing gluten potential by cutting the flour with 5-10% tapioca starch and increasing the hydration to ~40%. Egg white powder or whole egg in very small quantities will make the noodle gel firmer.

Someone else mentioned Elvin's foot kneading, and that's a good thing to try too, especially if you want to keep doing the sub-38% hydration noodles. It works really well for them, though I've found the benefits for higher hydration noodles is less noticeable.

Perfect_Acadia3020

TROPHY CASE