This story was originally published in June 2020.
Flour, egg, and water makes noodles. It is the soul of simplicity. That is not to say it is as easy as opening a bag and dropping them into boiling water. Making them at home, though, means you don’t have to go to the store for them, and if the store is all out, you can still have your favorite noodle dish.
Of course, they taste better than most commercial noodles.
Sharon Daley, an island neighbor of mine and the telemedicine nurse on the Seacoast Mission’s vessel Sunbeam, which visits the Maine coast’s outer islands, taught me how to make them. She grew up in Missouri, and homemade noodles were a regular thing in her childhood.
One cup of flour, one egg and water to fill one half of the egg’s shell, plus some muscle power is all that is needed. I made mine on a large cutting board, put the flour in the center of the board, made a well in the pile, then dropped the egg and water in the well and began mixing with a fork pulling more flour in from the edges until it was all worked in. At that point I shifted to hand kneading as for bread, pushing away then folding and turning until the dough was smoother and elastic. Then I rolled it out like cookie dough.
If you explore noodle making on YouTube, you can see various ways of rolling it out and cutting it into ribbons. Sharon says she always rolled hers up, so that is what I did. I cut off slightly less than half-inch pinwheels then shook them out and let them dry a little before cooking them. I probably could have rolled the dough out thinner than I did, and in order to do that, I think a little more water would have helped to make the dough stretch more easily. I did let it rest after kneading which also helps.
It’s fun making your own noodles. It’s a good thing to know how to do. Anything that helps us be a tad more self-sufficient is worth trying.
Homemade Egg Noodles
Yields 3 servings
1 cup of flour
1 large egg
Water to fill one-half of the egg shell
Pile the flour in the center of a clean counter or cutting board, and make a dent in it.
Break the egg into the dent, and add the water.
Stir the egg and flour with a fork, breaking the yolk and mixing the water into it.
Keep stirring until nearly all the flour is absorbed, then form a ball with the dough and knead it with the palm of your hand, turning and folding the dough until it is smooth and elastic.
Cover it with a damp towel and let it rest for about ten minutes.
Roll out with a rolling pin into a rough rectangle. You probably won’t have to add more flour.
Starting with the long edge, roll the dough not too tightly.
Slice off pinwheels at the desired width — as narrow or wide as you prefer.
Shake the pinwheels open and lay them out on the surface to dry slightly.
When you are ready to cook them, bring a couple quarts of water to a boil, add salt and loosely shake the noodles into the water. Bring the water back to a boil, then reduce the temperature enough to continue bubbling.
Cook for 5 or more minutes, until the noodles are at the texture you prefer.
Drain and serve.
