Glass Noodles with Pork & Napa Cabbage (2024)

FAQs

Is glass noodle healthy? ›

Glass noodles are fat-free and great for weight-loss diets. Reducing fats in your meal will combat obesity, cardiovascular disease, and several other metabolic disorders. Cellophane noodles are also a great source of iron. Getting enough iron in your diet ensures that oxygen is transported through the body.

How To Cook Glass Noodles. Some brands require soaking the noodles overnight, and others can be cooked immediately. The label will usually indicate best practices. The simplest way to cook the noodles is to blanch them in hot water.

Are glass noodles healthy? Despite not being made with flour, glass noodles are nutritionally similar to white flour–based pastas. (Each 1 cup serving of cooked glass noodles has 160 calories and 39 grams of carbohydrates, whereas the same amount of cooked spaghetti has 200 calories and only 24 grams of carbs.)

A popular dish called sapasui (transliteration of the Cantonese chop suey) is common fare at social gatherings. Sapasui, a soupy dish of boiled glass noodles mixed with braised pork, beef, or chicken and chopped vegetables, is akin to Hawaiian "long rice".

Glass noodles are lower in calories and GI.

This is because they can absorb a lot more water than rice and wheat noodles; so a plate of cooked glass noodles actually contains less carbs because there's more water in it. They are also lower in glycemic index than rice or wheat noodles.

Glass noodles are sugar-free

By reducing sugar in your diet, you can help lower your cholesterol, blood pressure, chronic inflammation, and more. Because of this, glass noodles are often recommended to those with diabetes.

Low Glycemic Index

The glycemic index (GI) is a measure of how quickly a food raises blood sugar levels. Glass noodles have a low glycemic index, which means they are digested more slowly, resulting in a slow and steady release of glucose into the bloodstream.

Glass noodles—also referred to as cellophane noodles, bean thread noodles, or fensi—are packaged dry and usually white or a light tan color. Once they are cooked, the noodles become transparent and look like glass, hence their name.

While both of these foods are gluten-free, glass noodles are commonly made with mung bean flour while vermicelli is made with rice. Rice vermicelli is also always a solid white and doesn't have the transparency of glass noodles. It's easy to get the two foods confused.

What is the difference between Chinese and Korean glass noodles? ›

Korean glass noodles are similar to Chinese glass noodles in terms of the method of preparation, texture, and consistency. However the biggest difference is that they are typically made using the starch from sweet potatoes. They are referred to as "dangmyeon" and differ slightly in taste from Chinese glass noodles.

Keep the Korean sweet potato glass noodles, which does not contain any refined wheat products, but packs a whopping 4 grams of fiber, 475% of your daily value of Vitamin A, and 33% the daily value of Vitamin C per serving!

Glass noodles are made by making a slurry with processed mung bean or other flour and water, which gets mixed, pulled, washed, and eventually stretched. To make the glass noodles, the mixture gets pressed through what looks like a giant sieve. Then the strands are draped over dowels and dried.

Korean japchae can be healthy depending on the preparation and what goes into the noodles. However, it is always best to consume sodium, sugar, and noodles in as minimal amounts as possible and eat more whole foods like fresh vegetables. After all, a balanced diet is more sustainable than a strict diet.