Glass Noodles With No Glass Ceiling by Robin Miller in Robin's Healthy Take, December 3, 2012
The noodles have multiple names – cellophane, long rice, rice stick, glass – all referring to the same long, gelatinous noodles found in Chinese and Southeast Asian cooking. They start out white and once softened, become almost translucent. Used in soups, stir fry, salads and desserts, cellophane noodles actually have very little flavor of their own, BUT they act as sponges and soak up the flavor of ingredients they’re partnered with. Nutritionally speaking, cellophane noodles are gluten free, fat free and a 1/2 cup serving dishes up 8% of your daily requirement for iron, important for oxygen transport in the body. And although they’re similar in size and texture to angel hair pasta, cellophane noodles have a low glycemic index, meaning they don’t cause a spike in blood sugar, important for maintaining even blood sugar levels.
