10.09.06
Pasta Lavista
I have a problem. My problem is that I like pasta. I am not a pasta freak by any means but I do enjoy it fairly often. The down side is that I can’t eat the recommended serving size and so I completely blow my caloric intake. I mean, 2oz dry pasta is about 200 calories and I know I double or triple that and that is with no sauce on it. Don’t get me going on Alfredo to top it off. I think I have found my saving grace. I had been doing some reading on various flavors of pasta and was looking for an alternative to the “white” forms. I had been using whole wheat pasta because it is more nutritionally sound than the processed versions and yet I was still unhappy with the calories that were involved.
Sure the fiber and whatnot were great but it still limited my toppings and other items I could have for that meal so I wouldn’t kill my intake for the day. Now, you know I do not eat low carb, I just don’t eat processed carbs. Well, that is kind of a lie, lately I have been slipping a bit but I do limit them whenever I can. Anyway, back to my story. So, I happened to be reading about a Japanese noodle called Shirataki. They say it has no calories and about three grams of soluble fiber per serving. It is just glucomannan and water, 96% water and 4% glucomannan (the fiber). I decided to give them a try and headed off to the local Asian market to get some.
My first impressions, they are packed in water and are almost clear. More of a see through white. I opened the package and there was a slight odor to them, not overpowering though and it goes away after rinsing them in hot water for a bit. My first dish with them was a spicy Korean pork dish. I tried one as is and it had no taste of it’s own but in the dish it soaked up all of the flavor of the dish I was making. I suggest that you cook it in the same pan as the meat you are making to impart that flavor in to the noodles. Now, they aren’t perfect in that they are a bit chewy, I like to think of them as the calamari of the pasta family. You don’t notice after a bite or two anyway.
Since then I have also made spaghetti, cook it in your sauce for best results. Cooking in water makes them watery in my opinion. I have also made a Cajun dish with crawfish that was outstanding. If you can’t find it under Shirataki you should be able to locate it under Konyaku instead. I can eat a ton of this stuff but you need to remember that it is fiber and too much can cause trouble. A company called House Foods also makes it with tofu in it. There are all kinds of styles you can get from the angel hair or spaghetti sized noodle to fettuccine and lasagna. Even a brick that looks like a tofu brick and even some with seaweed in it. I have even seen rigatoni, penne and linguine. There is a shape for almost any pasta style you need.
You can store these for a year but don’t freeze them; they don’t take well to that. If you have blood sugar problems then this is the way for you to get your pasta and have no side effects. Dare I say, it’s almost perfect.
Sharon Said:
June 12, 2008 at 10:46 pm
Hello Robert,
I am a McIlroy, my Father William McIlroy was born in 1927 in Banbridge Nth Ireland, after marrying and having 3 daughters we immigrated to Australia. Sadly my Father has now passed....I am quite sure we still have family in Ireland that we wouldn't know, but it was lovely coming across your page....
Sharon