Thursday, December 22, 2011

Man Cannot Live On Broth Alone

Carb and calorie free pasta?
Shirataki noodles from Japan contain zero calories and zero carbs and are gaining a following amongst flab fighters around the country as a miracle alternative to traditional pasta.
I've tried these at a ramen house last fall. The is texture is gelatinous, as it says. Very similar to bean thread/glass noodles with more plasticity. I was never quite sure if my chewing had any effect on them as I pictured a pile of unbroken noodles sitting in my stomach.

Though I didn't experience their reputation for stomach brooming, I was just as hungry when I left the restaurant as I was when I entered. Imagine that... a large soup bowl of ramen that wasn't there.
A new experience for me, and a waste of money.

10 comments:

Jade said...

Things like this sweep across the country as the next great thing to eat because Americans, by and large*, cannot grasp the concept of "get exercise regularly and eat real food in moderation".

*(pun entirely intended)

Gino said...

put a bowl of ramen before me, and the word moderation does not exist.
its the the only thing that compares to fried chicken for me.

Shirataki Noodles said...

I love shirataki noodles and Add noodles and veggies and toss to combine the noodles and coat them evenly with sauce..Awesome...

Brian said...

Amen, Jade.

Gino said...

now i've seen it all: a name-brand ad bot. i'll leave it up for now.

Foxfier said...

Have you ever tried udon? I've been told that the texture is similar, and I wouldn't exactly be upset to skip on calories, if you know what I mean....

Gino said...

i know udon well. udon is slippery, but not gelatinous.

Foxfier said...

It's also nicely chewy-- part of why I like it!

But I'm taking that to mean the reports that this stuff is "rubbery" doesn't mean like udon. Boo. Thank you.

Gino said...

nope. not like udon. not even close.
there is a noodle house i frequent that makes it's own udon, on site. good stuff, i tell ya.

i been largely living on asian noodles of some form or another for about 2 1/2 years. it goes down easily.
italian pasta has a tendency to slide less smoothly, and the sauce required can sometimes cause problems. potatoes and rice tend to possess another set of issues as well.

Brian said...

Udon is awesome, definitely not gelatinous. I believe it is made of buckwheat, so it is certainly not low-calorie or low-carb (and is fairly problematic if you have issues with wheat.)

I prefer wheat noodles, but the other half doesn't handle them particularly well, so we mostly eat rice noodles and the occasional bean noodle at home. I eat wheat--usually udon--when we go out.