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Rainbow Longevity Noodles for Chinese New Year - Made with all-natural vegetarian ingredients and served in a simple, rich broth, they guarantee your dinner party will be a blast.

Rainbow Longevity Noodles for Chinese New Year (彩虹长寿面)

Made with all-natural vegetarian ingredients and served in a simple, rich broth, these noodles are guaranteed to make your dinner party a blast.
Each batch of noodle dough generates 4 big servings as a main dish or 8 small servings as a side. If you don't plan to serve all the noodles, freezing the doughs or the uncooked noodles is the best way to keep them fresh.
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Resting Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 55 minutes
Course: Side
Cuisine: Chinese
Keyword: chinese new year
Servings: 4 to 8 servings

Equipment

  • Vitamix

Ingredients

Noodles

  • 10 oz. (300 g) all-purpose flour for each color (about 2 cups), and more for dusting
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt for each color

Spinach dye

  • 80 grams baby spinach , about 4 cups after pressing down

Carrot dye

  • 10 oz. (300 g) carrots , peeled and coarsely chopped (about 4 small ones)

Beet dye

  • 10 oz. (300 g) beets (about 2 to 3 small ones), peeled and cut into 2/3-inch (2-cm) chunks

Purple dye

  • 5 oz. (150 g) purple cabbage , coarsely chopped (yields about 2 cups)

Broth (for each color)

  • 6 cups broth , chicken or vegetable
  • 8 teaspoons soy sauce (or to taste)

Garnish (Optional)

Instructions

Spinach dye

  • Add baby spinach and 1 cup water into a blender (I used my Vitamix). Turn on blender and gradually increase to the highest speed. Blend until the spinach is completely broken down. Transfer to a bowl.
  • Once you finish this step, jump to the noodle-making process to make the dough.

Carrot dye

  • Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Blanch carrots until tender, 5 to 8 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water to cool. When the carrots have cooled enough to handle, transfer them to the blender with 1 cup water. Turn on blender and gradually increase to the highest speed. Blend until it forms a smooth paste. Transfer to a bowl.
  • Once you finish this step, jump to the noodle-making process to make the dough.

Beet dye

  • Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Blanch beets until tender, about 5 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water to cool. When the beets have cooled enough to handle, transfer them to the blender with 1 cup water. Turn on blender and gradually increase to the highest speed. Blend until it forms a smooth paste. Transfer to a bowl.
  • Once you finish this step, jump to the noodle-making process to make the dough.

Purple dye

  • Add red cabbage and 1 cup water into the blender. Turn on blender and gradually increase to the highest speed. Blend until the cabbage is completely broken down. Transfer to a bowl.

Noodle dough

  • Add the flour and salt into a high-powered blender or food processor with 2/3 cup of dye liquid.
  • Pulse until it starts to form a dough ball and lift off the blades, about 30 seconds. Add more dye liquid if the dough does not come together, 1 tablespoon at a time. Add a little more flour if the dough looks too moist. Pulse for another 20 to 30 seconds. Dust a thin layer of flour onto your working surface. Transfer the dough onto it and knead for 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer the dough to a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rest for 30 minutes.
  • Clean your blender (or food processor) before proceeding to the next color.

Noodles

  • Once you've made all the doughs, start making the noodles. At this stage you can cover the doughs with plastic wrap and store them in the fridge for a day, or freeze them for a month. Thaw completely before making noodles.
  • Divide each dough into four even pieces, shaping the four pieces into dough balls. Work on one piece at a time, returning the remaining doughs to the bowl and covering them.
  • Run the dough through a pasta rolling machine, starting on the widest setting and slowly working your way down to the desired thickness. My pasta machine has 10 settings. I usually use 6 for super thin noodles or 4 for more chewy noodles. Use the fettuccine attachment to cut the pasta into wide noodles or the spaghetti attachment for thinner noodles. Dust the noodles with extra flour to prevent sticking. Hang the noodles on a drying rack or a floured surface while working on the rest of the dough. If you do not have a pasta machine check out my Fresh Homemade Noodles recipe for instructions on how to roll and cut your noodles by hand (https://omnivorescookbook.com/fresh-homemade-noodles).

Cook and serve

  • Heat chicken or vegetable broth in a pot until boiling. You should prepare 6 to 8 cups of broth for each color.
  • Bring a large pot of water to a boil over medium-high heat. Only cook the portion of noodles you're about to serve.
  • Add noodles, one color (or 3 to 4 servings) at a time, and immediately stir with chopsticks (or tongs) to separate the noodles. Boil until the noodles are cooked through, about 1 minute for thin noodles or up to 3 minutes for thicker noodles.
  • Use tongs to transfer the noodles to a strainer. Flush with tap water to cool. Drain and transfer to serving bowls.
  • Add the broth to each noodle bowl, add 1 to 2 teaspoons soy sauce. Garnish with a few drops of sesame oil (or homemade chili oil), chopped green onion, and sesame seeds, if using.
  • Serve immediately.

Store

  • Dust the bottom of an airtight container with flour. Generously sprinkle flour onto the noodles. Fold the noodles into the container and cover. Store in the freezer for up to 1 month.
  • To cook frozen noodles, cook them like you would cook fresh noodles, without thawing. You'll need more cooking time, about 4 to 6 minutes depending on the thickness of the noodles.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving, Calories: 163kcal, Carbohydrates: 28.6g, Protein: 7.8g, Fat: 1.4g, Saturated Fat: 0.3g, Sodium: 876mg, Fiber: 1.2g, Sugar: 0.8g