In January 2017, I wrote an article for Vitamix about how miracle noodles were becoming mainstream. Nonetheless, almost two years later, 73% of you polled on Instagram said you still haven’t tried them. And, despite researching that blog post two winters ago, I’ll admit I’m with you. Not only have I never bought miracle noodles, I’ve never eaten them and I’ve never seen them at the store. So when my friend Karen asks me how she can use shirataki miracle noodles to make a good dinner at home, I decide to dig into it. Let’s test out the trendy keto noodles made from the konjac yam! I want to see what the fuss is all about firsthand.
Here’s what happens when I test my first two packs of shirataki fettucine noodles.
If you look at current Google Trends, interest in miracle noodles is on the rise, particularly if you’re talking about where to find them. Specifically, the phrase “miracle noodles Kroger” is up 250% in the last year and “miracle noodles Walmart,” 170%.
Here in Nashville, my local Kroger only carries the tofu variety, which I’m less interested in than the simplified, water-heavy version. I go to Whole Foods. It takes me at least a half hour to search through the Asian aisle, the pasta section and all aisles of refrigerated foods before I think to look in the produce department. There, next to the case of fermented foods and spiralized sweet potatoes, I find them.
Made by the brand Miracle Noodle, each 7-ounce pack is $2.50 and has markings like “Zero calories!” on the front. The noodles are encased in water in the plastic, so they jiggle like thawed ice packs when I plop them in my cart.
The Miracle Noodles brand of shirataki noodles offers a minimal ingredients list of mostly water and konjac yam.
Ingredients: Purified water, konjac flour and limewater.
As mentioned above, not all shirataki miracle noodles are created equal. According to Kate Bratskeir at the Huffington Post, there are two main versions: the basic (essentially konjac and water) and the enhanced (with tofu or chickpeas added).
For the purposes of this experiment, I want to use the barebones noodles, unenhanced and truer to the “miracle” claim.
Rinse and drain the noodles in a colander.
Sauté in an unoiled pan to dry them out further.
The bottom line is you’re taking your noodles out of the water pack and doing everything you can to get them dry. Then, once they’re free of moisture, they’re ready to use as you like.
As for me, I decide to go basic. I rinse and drain the noodles in a colander in the sink, squeeze out their moisture in a towel and then plop them in a heated sauté pan. The process isn’t complicated or time-consuming, and the finished noodles do indeed feel like pasta and lose their fishy smell. Fairly impressive.
By appearance, miracle noodles remind me of glass noodles, aka cellophane noodles: starchy, transparent, a little gummy. Therefore, naturally, I figure, I’ll start with how I’d like to eat those. On the Miracle Noodles website, there’s a recipe for pad Thai, that entry-level Thai dish heavy on the peanut sauce. So, using a sauce I happen to have made last week and still have on hand, as well as some leftover venison steak for the meat, I give it a go.
To the dried noodles in my sauté pan, I add coconut oil and a few dashes of garlic powder. After half a minute, that gets combined with 3/4 cup each of shredded red cabbage and broccoli florets, as well as some sliced-up venison steak. I cover the pot, give it a few minutes and come back to turn off the heat. After a few tablespoons of peanut sauce and a splash of sesame oil, the dish is done.
At first taste, I’m ambivalent. Then, I add some coconut sugar (maybe my leftover peanut sauce was the problem?) and the dish is transformed. The noodles are, no question, comparable to any traditional variety: soft but with a slight chew, easy to slurp and soaked through with the flavor of my peanut sauce.
OK, maybe I’ll buy miracle noodles again?
There are few dishes as comforting as a warming bowl of pho, the Vietnamese dish known for beef stock, spices, meat and noodles. So, with my other bag of shiratki, I decide to flub together a lazy version of this soup. While drying and sautéing the other pack of shirataki miracle noodles, I sauté onions, garlic and ginger; add vegetables, meat and broth and, once it’s all cooked and soft, throw in the dried noodles.
Here, too, the konju fettucine succeeds. It’s a perfect sub, completing the pho just as normal noodles might.
Take it from a miracle noodle newbie: these calorie-free foods aren’t too good to be true. You can sub them where you’d normally use Asian noodles and find the dish everything you’d hoped. Particularly if you’re looking to cut calories, lower carbs or use noodles without gluten, they’re worth trying. That said, are they better than rice noodles? Do they make sense to buy on the regular?
In my opinion, the biggest selling point is that they’re basically water and yam. They are made of real foods, yet offer a way to have noodles without calories or carbs, free of gluten. This makes them a solution for most diets or allergen sensitivities. The biggest downside, however, is there’s not much else that makes them distinct.
Miracle noodles are available in many modern grocery stores, as well as online via Amazon and other sellers.
Recommended for: anyone looking to cut calories, carbs or gluten, while still getting a noodle fix; curious cooks.
Not recommended for: anyone else.
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