Potato Button Noodles

Upute

Potato starch

Potato starch transforms the mashed potatoes into noodles, making these button noodles extra chewy and bouncy.

You can substitute it with cornstarch, however it won’t be as chewy as potato starch.

Water

Room temperature water helps bind the potatoes together with the potato starch.

Depending on how much water your potatoes have absorbed during boiling, the amount of water needed will vary, so add it in 1 tbsp at a time.

Peel and chop potatoes

Peel and chop two medium yellow potatoes into small chunks.

Boil potatoes

Plop the potatoes into a pot of water, add some salt, and turn the heat to high, letting them boil for 15 mins or until tender.

Finely mash potatoes

Fish the hot potatoes out and into a large strainer, pushing the tender potatoes through the mesh with a spatula.

This method is very similar to making gnocchi – we’re just making sure there are no lumps or clumps once we make our potato button noodles.

You could also just finely mash your potatoes with a fork, but I find that it ends up being more work than just using a strainer.

Mix in potato starch and water

To a bowl, toss in your potato starch, with 1 tbsp of water to start.

Kneed the starch with the potatoes, and add in more water (1 tbsp at a time) if necessary. If your dough is too wet, add in a little potato starch to balance it out.

The amount of water you add will vary depending on how much water your boiled potatoes have absorbed. Please refer to my video for an accurate depiction of the proper dough consistency. Your dough should be similar to mine – a soft ball, where the dough doesn’t stick to your finger once poked.

Form the button shape

Taking around a tablespoon of the dough, squeeze the dough for a few seconds with one hand – this helps compact the dough. After, simply roll it into a sphere between your palms.

Once you have a spherical shape, wash and dry a glass bottle – one with a sturdy and narrow mouth. Slowly push the bottle mouth into the sphere, around halfway down.

I don’t recommend it. The reason we use a glass bottle is because the mouth is rounded and thicker, compared to a bottle, which is thinner and has a sharper edge. Also, the plastic bottle will most likely stick to the dough then with a glass bottle.

Boil the button noodles

Transfer your buttons to some boiling water, letting them swim for 5 minutes or until fully cooked. The best way to determine if you potato button noodles are cooked through is to simply take a bite out of one. If the inside is still firm and not chewy, let them boil for longer.

This is optional, but once fully cooked, I suggest transferring them to some cold water. This will stop the cooking process, and let the noodles become extra chewy.

Strain the button noodles out from the cold water and start preparing the chili oil sauce.

How to make Chilli Oil Sauce

This chili oil sauce is the same recipe used in my rice paper noodles recipe. I have just removed the chili flakes and cilantro garnish to better suit these potato button noodles, however, I will include the recipe on this page as well.

Chop garlic and green onion

Finely dicing some fresh garlic and slice some green onion. Transfer garlic and green onions to bowl of button noodles.

Add in the dry ingredients

Sprinkle in your gochugaru and granulated sugar.

Heat the oil and pour onto noodles

Heat up some vegetable oil on high until bubbles start immediately forming your chopstick.

Bilješke

Tip: To prevent the button noodle from cracking, make sure you’re pushing down gently and slowly. If you push down too aggressively, your dough will crack. If it cracks, simply form it into a sphere and try again.

Tip: You can use a glass water bottle or wine bottle. Just make sure the it’s dry inside the bottle, or else the water will drip down into the dough and stick, leaving you with a portion of dough stuck inside the mouth of the bottle.

Tip: If you can’t handle spicy foods, just make my garlic soy noodle sauce! Simply remove the chili powder and add 1/2 tsp of sesame oil at the very end.