Cooking Noodles Alone

• Precook your soup noodles and aim for slightly underdone. The best indicator for done-ness is taste. You want them to be chewy and firm, because they will soak up the hot liquid and soften once added to your soup. Once the noodles are done, remove the pot from the stove and pour your noodles and the cooking water into a colander set in the sink. Use potholders to protect against the hot steam from the boiling water, and pour slowly. Once the noodles are in the colander or sieve, rinse them right away with cold water. The cool water stops the noodles from cooking longer and becoming too soft before serving with the soup.

Keeping Noodles Separate

• The best method to keep your noodles from sticking together depends on the kind of noodle being used. Most Asian-style noodles made from rice or buckwheat flours do well when soaked in a bowl of tap water. Traditional pasta noodles made from durum and semolina wheat flours break down when left too long in water; instead, toss these noodles with a few teaspoons of oil to keep them from sticking. If your soup broth contains naturally occurring oil or butter, collect a few tablespoons of the broth and toss with the noodles.

Reheating Precooked Noodles

• To serve your soup, place a single serving of noodles into a soup bowl and ladle the soup over the top. For thicker noodles or when serving a crowd, toss your cooked noodles into the soup pot and allow them to warm a few minutes. When using precooked noodles straight from the refrigerator, consider whether or not they need to be warmed. Thinner noodles such as rice noodles become hot almost instantly when added to simmering liquid; thicker noodles such as fettuccine cool your soup down if served straight from the fridge. To warm chilled noodles, microwave single servings in a microwave-safe dish on high for 45 seconds. Alternatively, place your cold noodles in a colander or sieve, and submerge for 40 to 60 seconds per single serving in a pot of boiling water.

Using Thickener in Broth

• Thickening agents used in soups can also affect the clarity of the liquid broth. Using flour can result in more opaque broth. Instead, choose cornstarch for its neutral taste and ability to thicken liquids without adding cloudiness. When substituting cornstarch for flour as a thickener in your noodle soup, use half the amount of cornstarch as the flour called for in your recipe, because cornstarch has twice the thickening power. Don’t add the cornstarch directly to your soup liquid; instead, use a jar with a tight-fitting lid to blend equal amounts of cornstarch and water. Add this mixture to your soup, pouring in a slow stream and stirring to prevent lumps.