Lukshen are the highlight of the seder meal for me; they always have been. I remember looking forward to the meal for what seemed like hours, anxiously awaiting the once-a-year bowl of chicken soup with special Pesach lukshen. I always appraised everyone else's bowl as my mother brought out the soup. If anyone had even a strand more than me, I felt unloved. Deprived. (Never mind that there was no shortage and I could always get doubles if I asked.)
Now that I'm in charge, I make a quadruple recipe of lukshen so I can have at least three bowls of chicken soup filled to the brim with lukshen. I don't normally make labor intensive recipes like this one, but this is one of the few foods I'll go to this kind of trouble with.
Here's the recipe, and please accept my apologies again for the lack of photos. I'm feeling very guilty about that.... I'll be back in full swing after Pesach, I promise!
Pesach Lukshen
This is a single recipe, which makes enough noodles for about 6 bowls of soup. If you're cooking for a crowd, or for anyone who likes these as much as I do, make a double, triple, or quadruple recipe. Yes, it's labor intensive. But it's worth every bit of work in my book.
1 cup cold water
1/3 cup potato starch
3 eggs
dash of saltcottonseed oil (or any other basic Pesach oil)
Combine the water and potato starch in a cup. Mix very well. Pour them into a mixing bowl and add the eggs and salt. Use an electric mixer to mix the ingredients well.
If you have time, refrigerate the batter for about an hour. It'll thicken up a bit and become easier to work with.
When you're ready to prepare the crepes, heat a non-stick frying pan on medium-low heat. Brush with a bit of oil and heat again. Mix the batter well again with a fork.
When you think the pan's hot enough, test it by putting on a drop of batter - it should cook up immediately without burning.
Pour a small ladle full of batter into the pan. Lift the pan off the flame and tilt it this way and that to spread the batter over the entire pan. Put the pan back on the flame and let it heat for about a minute, till the crepe looks totally set and the edges are beginning to curl away from the pan.
Gently use your fingers to lift the crepe away from the pan and flip it over to cook the other side. Let it cook for just a few seconds before flipping the pan over and removing the crepe to a dry, clean plate or serving dish.
If the crepe seems too thin, add a little potato starch to the rest of the batter (dissolve the starch in some water first). If it seems too thick, thin the batter with a bit of water. The crepes should be firm enough that they handle well without falling apart, but not so thick that the insides don't get done.
Repeat with the remaining batter, replenishing the oil in the pan between every few crepes. Depending on the thickness of the crepes, you should end up with 6-8 crepes.
Let the crepes cool completely and then roll a small stack of them up, jelly roll style. Use a knife to cut the jelly roll into wide strips to make your lukshen!
Refrigerate for a couple of days, or freeze for longer. Defrost fully before using.
my mother used to make a delicious blinze pie with whatever leaves were left by the last day of pesach -- she layered it with nuts, apricot jam, etc and sliced it into wedges to serve. now that she's making lukshen for me also, though, there are never any leftovers.
ReplyDeleteGreat idea.. I'll be making these gluten free noodle gems during Passover. Might even stuff one of the crepes with cottage cheese for lunch..
ReplyDeleteMy Mom always made these for Pesach. We loved them.
ReplyDeleteThanks,
Irene
I love the noodles also. Usually, on the last days, I make a kugel but it uses too many eggs. I think it is 12 for the noodles and then another 12 for the filling.
ReplyDeleteI have my cookbooks out but I have only used one, so far.