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I have celiac disease and would like to make gluten free Udon Noodles. I have been unable to find a recipe and have never made homemade noodles. Does anybody know how to make these delicious, chewy noodles using brown rice flour?

Or have any advice as to what ingredients i should use in my attempts to develop a recipe for making them?

To be exact, what other ingredients could I use to substitute the wheat flour traditionally used in this noodle. What should I add to brown rice flour, salt and water to obtain a chewy texture in a gluten free noodle.

3 Answers 3

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I hate to say it, but I'd be willing to bet that gluten-free udon is about as practical as gluten-free seitan - the gluten is precisely what gives udon noodles the texture that makes them so special.

Having said that, I've bought frozen udon noodles that had tapioca starch as an ingredient in addition to wheat flour, and those were some of the best udon noodles I've eaten.

The other catch is that making udon noodles at home is hard - traditional recipes call for putting the very tough, springy dough in a plastic bag and stomping on it for a few minutes, as the only practical way of kneading it.

This site describes how to make udon noodles with tapioca - you could try replacing its flour with the gluten-free blend described here. I would also consider adding xanthan gum. If you're feeling adventurous, This e-book (not free, but looks pretty solid) discusses a wide variety of gluten-free flours and their properties, and might help you choose flours to use with the properties you want.

If gluten-free udon turns out to be impractical, I recommend soba noodles as an alternative. Those can much more easily be made gluten-free (although most commercially made ones available in the US do have wheat simply because it's cheap and bland) and can usually be used in the same dishes as udon. They have their own distinct texture, very different from udon, and a deliciously hearty flavor.

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http://vegetarianandhealth.blogspot.com/2008/11/udon-noodles-from-scratch.html

here is a site that has a recipe for gluten-free udon. It is a vietnamese type noodle but it works very well with udon soups as it is similar to udon. Our family loves udon but since my 2 yr old son has to be on a gluten free diet, so do we since he cannot understand yet why he can't have certain foods..udon being one of his favorites! This has been a great substitute for us!

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This E is for Eat blog entry contains a recipe for udon noodles that are gluten free, made from brown rice flour and tapioca flour.

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  • This isn't an answer to the question.
    – lemontwist
    Feb 3, 2013 at 23:54
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    Welcome to Seasoned Advice! Whilst this may theoretically answer the question, it would be preferable to include the essential parts of the answer here, and provide the link for reference.
    – Aaronut
    Feb 4, 2013 at 4:49
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    This is an answer to the question just as much as the link to 'vegetarian and health' is (which has text below it, but doesn't say anything about the recipe, other than it being a vietnamise noodle. (so to clarify, it's "bánh canh") ... but no one called that one out for not standing on its own. This link, hoever, mentions that it's possible to use a bag w/ holes punched in it, and you don't actually need a cookie press. ... and a more conventional recipe format is all the way at the bottom of the page.
    – Joe
    Dec 15, 2014 at 5:00

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