"Hand-kneaded" high-hydration Ramen noodles
Although by its etymology “Ramen” is supposed to be made manually, nowadays the terms is almost exclusively reserved for noodles produced on Roller-type noodle machines. Thus, to denote the traditional variety of Ramen (the “proto-Ramen”, if you will) we need to rely on the linguistic method of creating a “retronym” by saying “Hand-pulled Ramen”.
But, of course, even if we are talking only about machine-made Ramen noodles, they do not necessarily have to be made on Roller-type equipment, as it is the recipe that makes Ramen noodles – not the type of production method – and by extension the equipment used to make them.
In terms of basic composition of ingredients, Ramen is made from wheat flour, salt, kansui, and water – with much depending on the relative amount of the last component: thus, there are low hydration, medium hydration, and high-hydration Ramen noodles.
The hydration ratio affects not only noodles’ texture, but also the type of equipment most suited to make them, where low and medium hydration noodles can be (and usually are) made on Roller type machines, while…
So, what about the high — that is really high (above 45%) — hydration Ramen noodles?
As at this level of water ratio the dough becomes quite sticky, such noodles are very difficult to make on the equipment most commonly associated with Ramen noodle production.
But equipment options are not limited to the Roller-type machines similar to the one depicted on the picture above, and Ramen noodles can also be made on machines most usually used for production of Udon or Soba noodles.
In this sense, the very terms “Ramen machine”, “Udon machine” and “Soba machine” are used mostly out of convenience as those are the types of noodles that are predominately produced on respective types of equipment, with the latter two (for Udon and Soba) being referred to as “hand-kneading” (or “TEUCHI-SHIKI” in Japanese) type of equipment in contrast to the “Roller”-type (for Ramen).
On November 26, 2021 join Yamato for a free online workshop dedicated to the topic of production of high-hydration Ramen noodles on the “Bandotaro” noodle machine most frequently used to make Japanese Soba noodles.
Click “BOOK NOW” to sign up.
The workshop is Free, and its live broadcast is accessible by the link that will be sent to your email address after you sign up.
IMPORTANT:
a link to the workshop’s livestream will be sent to your email address 30 minutes before the start
(NOTE: we are looking forward for, and would definitely welcome your watching the live broadcast, but should that be difficult, you would still be able to watch a recording of the class using the same link)
Time schedule
| Time (Japanese time) | Contents |
| 4:30~4:35 (P.M.) | Introduction |
| 4:35 ~ 4:45 | A lecture on the types of Ramen noodles depending on the hydration ratio, and types of equipment used to make them |
| 4:45 ~ 5:00 | Hands-on demonstration of production process to make fresh high-hydration Ramen noodles on a “hand-kneading” type of noodle making equipment |
| 5:00~5:10 | A cooking session for dishes using high-hydration Ramen noodles |
| 5:10 ~ 5:15 | Q&A |
*November 26, 4:30 P.M. Japanese time will be:
November 26, 00:30 in Los Angeles;
November 26, 02:30 in Dallas;
November 26, 03:30 in New York;
November 26, 10:30 A.M. in Helsinki;
9:30 A.M. in Berlin;
8:30 A.M. in Lisbon
*Schedule and timetable may be subject to change
*The workshop will be conducted in English
How to register for the workshop
You will receive an email with instructions for how to log in to the workshop’s livestream.
NOTE:
Please feel free to tell us about what kind of noodles you would want to see featured or any particular topic covered during the workshop.