Methocel A4C Instant Mushroom Noodles

One of our readers asked how to make instant, liquid noodles. I agreed to post this recipe that comes from our book, Modernist Cooking Made Easy: Getting Started.

These instant noodles make for an awesome presentation. They are created in the bowl of soup in front of the diner, or the diner can even make the noodles themselves. They are based off of Wylie Dufresne's instant tofu noodles. They use Methocel A4C, which is a form of methylcellulose.

They go very well with any clear broth soups. I especially like them as the noodles in chicken noodle soup but they also work great with miso or steak soups as well. You could even use them in a minestrone.

Methocel a4c instant mushroom noodles

Methocel A4C Instant Mushroom Noodles Tools Needed


If you like this recipe you can get more than 80 other recipes from my book Modernist Cooking Made Easy: Getting Started. The book covers many of the popular modernist techniques such as gelling, spherification, and foams. It also explores modernist ingredients like agar, sodium alginate, tapioca maltodextrin, and xanthan gum. It is all presented in an easy to understand format and I think it's the best way to learn about modernist cooking.

Also, if you are just getting started experimenting with molecular gastronomy and modernist cuisine then I highly recommend one of these molecular gastronomy kits. They have everything you need to do many different dishes.

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Methocel A4C Instant Mushroom Noodles Recipe

  • Published: January 25, 2013
  • By Jason Logsdon
  • Prep Time: 15 Minutes
  • Total Time: 60 minutes time

Methocel A4C Instant Mushroom Noodles Ingredients

Because they use modernist ingredients, these amounts for this component are given in metric by weight. Learn more about how to measure modernist ingredients in this article.

225 grams baby bella mushrooms, cleaned
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
100 grams water
6.5 grams Methocel A4C, 2%

4-6 sage leaves

Hot chicken soup, for serving

Methocel A4C Instant Mushroom Noodles Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400°F (204°C).

Place the mushrooms on a sheet pan with raised edges. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for 15 to 30 minutes, until they begin to brown and have released most of their juices. Remove from the oven.

Roasting mushrooms for instant methocel a4c noodles

Heat the water to a boil. Sprinkle in the Methocel A4C and mix with the immersion blender. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly.

Combine the water, mushrooms, and sage leaves in the standing blender. Puree until it becomes a smooth mixture then cool and place in the refrigerator for several hours for the Methocel A4C to hydrate.

Once hydrated fully, pour the mixture into a squeeze bottle. Let it come to room temperature before serving. For serving, make sure you have a very hot soup because the noodles will not gel unless they are raised above 122°F to 131°F (50°C to 55°C).

To serve, place the nozzle of the squeeze bottle just below the surface of the soup and squeeze some of the mixture out while moving the bottle around. It will gel almost instantly, forming the mushroom noodles.

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Jason logsdon headshot This article is by me, Jason Logsdon. I'm an adventurous home cook and professional blogger who loves to try new things, especially when it comes to cooking. I've explored everything from sous vide and whipping siphons to pressure cookers and blow torches; created foams, gels and spheres; made barrel aged cocktails and brewed beer. I have also written 10 cookbooks on modernist cooking and sous vide and I run the AmazingFoodMadeEasy.com website.
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