Why are instant noodles curly? Because there is a reason for them to be curly

Instant noodles are the most common but indispensable emergency food for modern humans. Who has not had the experience of soaking a bowl of instant noodles in boiling water to make up for the night’s overtime or not wanting to cook and not being able to order takeout, to stop their stomach from protesting? It is so important to modern people that “I wish you will eat instant noodles without seasoning packets for the rest of your life” has become a terrible curse. How much do we know about this emergency food?

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#1Why are instant noodles curved?

Regardless of whether the overall shape of the noodles is round or square, instant noodles have one major difference from other dried noodles and handmade noodles - the noodles are curved and wavy. Why are they curved? This starts with the production process of noodles. The production of instant noodles belongs to the category of food processing industry, while the production of noodles is a standardized mechanical assembly line operation. From flour to the final formed noodles, it goes through several steps.

1. Mix and knead the dough

The process of mixing noodles is to make the "ingredients" of instant noodles - the dough. In this process, flour and water are added to a huge mixer in the right proportion, and a certain proportion of edible chemicals such as salt, sodium carbonate or potassium carbonate solution are also added.

Salt is added to make the protein in the flour coagulate to form protein glue, which enhances the toughness and ductility of the dough, or in other words, makes the dough more "tough". Sodium carbonate or potassium carbonate is added because their solutions are weakly alkaline and can neutralize the acid produced when the dough is fermented.

2. Rolling and shaping

The kneaded dough will be sent to multiple rolling rollers, and after multiple rolling, it will become a thin and wide dough sheet. The dough sheet will pass through the roller noodle cutter with grooves on the surface again and be cut into noodles. Since the grooves on the noodle cutter are wavy, the noodles that come out in the end also become wavy. The wavy instant noodles are formed in this step.

3. Steam the noodles

In this process, the raw noodles, which have already taken shape, will pass through a huge box and be steamed with high-temperature steam. While steaming, the speed of the conveyor belt will be gradually increased to further lengthen the noodles. During this process, the machine will evenly spray a layer of cooking oil on the surface of the noodles through the roller and nozzle to prevent the steamed noodles from sticking to each other. The steamed noodles will be cut by a roller rotating at a fixed speed at the exit of the conveyor belt. The rotation speed of the roller is matched with the speed of the conveyor belt, so that each cut will cut out the amount of a pack of instant noodles. Each portion of cut noodles will fall from the conveyor belt into a container of fixed shape, ready to enter the next process.

4. Dehydration and molding

Each steamed instant noodle is also dehydrated to make it crisp and durable. Due to the fixed shape of the container, the dehydrated instant noodles will all become instant noodle cakes of the same shape. The traditional dehydration process is to fry at a high temperature of 130-140°C. The noodles processed by this process have a high fat content and are not good for health. Now the healthier dehydration process is to directly heat and dry with hot air, similar to the air fryer in our homes. The dehydrated instant noodle cakes will also enter a large fan room to lower their temperature. In this way, the fixed and shaped instant noodle cakes are completed.

Image source: Pixabay

#2 Instant noodles, the “bend” makes sense

Through the production process of instant noodles, we understand how instant noodles become "bent". As for why instant noodles become bent, there is a reason for it. Humans have long discovered in long-term scientific practice that, under the same volume, the curved and wrinkled structure of objects can greatly increase the surface area of ​​objects. Taking our human body as an example, the average brain capacity of an adult male is about 1400 cubic centimeters. If the surface area of ​​our human brain is extremely smooth, then the surface area of ​​a brain of this size is about 1100 square centimeters, but because our cerebral cortex is covered with countless wrinkled sulci, the actual surface area of ​​our cerebral cortex has more than doubled to about 2400 square centimeters.

Even more exaggerated than the brain is our small intestine, which only occupies a small part of the lower part of our abdominal cavity, but because of its curved and coiled tubular structure, its average length is about 5 to 7 meters. Not only that, the inner wall of the small intestine is covered with a large number of annular folds and protruding intestinal villi, which allow the inner wall of the small intestine to expand to more than 200 square meters, and even up to 400 square meters, which is almost the area of ​​a basketball court. Similar to the brain or small intestine, when making instant noodles, humans consider its portability and always hope to fit enough noodles in the smallest possible packaging space. Compared with straight noodles, curved and wavy instant noodles are obviously more in line with the requirements.

In addition, the curved wave-shaped instant noodles can increase the contact area between the noodles and the outside world, allowing the noodles to contact more water vapor during the steaming process and more oil or hot air during the dehydration process, thereby shortening the time of these two production processes. When brewing instant noodles, the noodles with a large number of wrinkles and pores can also be more fully in contact with boiling water, thus shortening the brewing time. Therefore, the "bend" of instant noodles is reasonable.

#3Is eating instant noodles unhealthy?

We often see claims on the Internet that instant noodles are harmful to health. For example, "instant noodles contain a lot of preservatives" or "eating instant noodles causes cancer". So are there any scientific basis for these claims? First of all, there is the issue of preservatives. From the previous instant noodle cake production process, we know that instant noodle cakes will be dehydrated in the last process. After dehydration, the instant noodle cakes are actually "dry food". This kind of "dry food" that contains almost no water does not have the conditions for mold to survive, so it will not deteriorate even if stored for a long time. Naturally, the manufacturer will not add preservatives unnecessarily. Some seasoning packets of instant noodles may contain trace amounts of preservatives, but we don't have to be afraid of preservatives. As long as the instant noodle products meet the national food safety production standards, the preservative content in its seasoning packet must be within the safe range and will not cause harm to human health.

The second is the problem of carcinogenicity. The reason for this is that high-starch foods may produce acrylamide, a potential carcinogen, when cooked at high temperatures, and instant noodles may also produce this substance during the dehydration process. However, there is a famous saying in the chemical community: "It is nonsense to talk about toxicity without considering the dosage." In fact, many of our daily diets, such as fried dough sticks and pancakes, may produce acrylamide. Instant noodles are no different from them. The acrylamide content they may produce is far from the level of carcinogenicity. It is scientifically untenable to directly associate them with cancer. Although eating instant noodles for a long time will not cause damage to the body by toxic substances, it may lead to nutritional imbalance. Because instant noodles are emergency food, they mainly rely on the starch in the noodles to supplement the high calories for the eaters, and at best there is the tiny protein provided by the dehydrated meat in the seasoning packet, as well as the negligible vitamins and plant fiber provided by the dehydrated vegetables. In addition, the instant noodle seasoning packet may also cause us to consume excessive salt, which is not good for our health in the long run.

Therefore, if we want to enjoy instant noodles in a healthy way, we can add some fresh vegetables and protein-rich meat and eggs to make a "luxury upgrade" for instant noodles while cooking or making noodles. At the same time, don't think that it is a waste if you don't use up the ingredients in the seasoning packet. Just add the seasoning in moderation. In short, instant noodles are emergency food after all. To ensure a balanced intake of nutrition, you should avoid eating instant noodles for a long time.

Source: Chongqing Science and Technology Museum

Review experts: Huang He, Li Chunli, Chen Tao, Xu Xiaoping

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