How do I stop noodles going gluey in a stir fry?

Gluey stir-fried noodles are noodles that were cooked twice. The fix is entirely in what happens before they reach the wok.

What you'll need

• A colander and access to cold running water
• A large pan or wok — the largest you have
• A neutral oil with a high smoke point

Step by step

1. Undercook them.A minute or two less than the packet says, so they still have a definite bite. They get a second cooking in the pan, and noodles cooked fully first have nowhere to go but soft.
2. Rinse them in cold water immediately.Straight into a colander and under the cold tap until they are properly cool. This stops the cooking and washes off the loose surface starch that glues them together.
3. Drain them thoroughly.Shake the colander hard and let them sit a few minutes. Water carried into a hot pan turns to steam and steamed noodles go soft and sticky.
4. Toss them in a little oil.A teaspoon or two, through the drained noodles with your hands. It coats each strand and keeps them separate while you cook everything else.
5. Have everything prepared before you start.A stir fry takes minutes and there is no time to chop mid-cook. Vegetables cut, sauce mixed, protein ready, noodles beside the hob.
6. Get the pan genuinely hot.Properly hot, until oil shimmers. A moderate pan does not stir fry, it stews, and stewed noodles are gluey noodles.
7. Cook in batches if the pan is small.An overloaded pan drops in temperature and everything releases liquid. Two quick batches beat one crowded pan, every time.
8. Add the noodles last.Everything else cooked, sauce in, then the noodles. They need about a minute — long enough to heat through and take on the sauce.
9. Toss rather than stir.Lift and turn with tongs or by shaking the pan. Stirring with a spoon breaks the strands and the broken pieces are what turn to paste.
10. Keep the sauce modest.Enough to coat, not to pool. Excess sauce sits in the bottom and the noodles absorb it into softness.
11. Match the noodle to the job.Fresh egg noodles and rice noodles need barely any pre-cooking — rice noodles often only a soak in hot water. Read the packet rather than boiling everything the same way.
12. Serve straight away.Noodles left sitting in a warm pan keep cooking and keep absorbing. Plate them as soon as they are coated.

Tips

• Rinse under cold water. It stops the cooking and removes the starch that glues strands together.
• Noodles go in last and stay in for about a minute. Any longer and they are being boiled again.
• A crowded pan steams. Two batches produce a far better result than one full wok.

Common mistakes

• Cooking the noodles fully before stir-frying — They get a second cooking in the pan, so fully cooked noodles end up overdone, soft and sticky no matter how well the stir fry itself goes.
• Adding wet noodles straight to the pan — The water flashes to steam and the noodles stew rather than fry, which is exactly the gluey texture being avoided.

If it doesn't work

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