How To Make Purple Sweet Potato Noodles Using A Noodlemaker (Pictorial Guide)

I grew up eating sweet potatoes, watching my mom pottering around the kitchen. Sweet potatoes are readily available and they are really cheap too. Mom used to cook it in a variety of ways, baked, steamed, deep-fried, boiled sweet dessert etc. Me, i love having them steamed. Warm, succulent, sweet, very much a comfort food when i was little.

Last weekend, i saw a man selling sweet potatoes by the roadside on my way back to the car after buying our weekly food supplies from the wet market. He had all colors in small piles on a mat. As i had just finished a batch of orange sweet potatoes recently, i bought purple sweet potatoes this time. Not much, only about 500g and it only cost Rm2.50.

Back home, the moment my #2 saw them, he wanted to make Purple Sweet Potato Noodles with his Joyoung Noodlemaker. And after packing everything into the fridge, i quickly steamed a few tubers for him. He even reminded me to steam an extra one as he wanted to munch on one as he played with his noodlemaker, lol.

Let me show you How To Make Purple Sweet Potato Noodles Using A Noodlemaker.

Skill level: Intermediate (do master the basic recipes first before attempting this as you will need to know how to gauge the moisture content of the dough by sight)

For this batch of purple sweet potato noodles, i used 3 medium sized tubers. Simply steam them on high heat. They should be ready in about 20 minutes. Poke a chopstick into the sweet potato and if i goes in and comes out easily, it is fully cooked.

Next, peel the skin off the sweet potato and mash it with the back of a fork. We will need 150g of mashed purple sweet potato flesh, no skin, ok.

As i ran out of organic unbleached plain flour, i used 250g of normal plain flour to go with the mashed purple sweet potatoes. Well, to me, other than a preference, both types of flour, whether unbleached or plain, tastes the same.

Pour the flour into the noodlemaker first.

Followed by the steamed and mashed purple sweet potatoes. You may add 1/2 to 1 tsp of sea salt into the flour to enhance the flavor of the noodle if you like. I did not use any water for this recipe. This depends on the moisture content of the steamed purple sweet potato. If you notice that it seems a bit dry and not binding well with the flour, add water in by the drops until it looks right. This is an acquired sight skill. Practice makes perfect.

Make sure the front panel where the noodle extrudes from is turned clockwise to the right. You will be able to see the "locked" icon printed on it. Next, slot the top cover's hinges properly to the noodlemaker and press down until you hear the loud "click" sound. Turn the front panel a bit to see if it moves or not. It should not budge more than a teensy weensy bit. If it moves, that means the front panel is not turned to the lock icon. Therefore, you will have to remove the top cover again to correct it. If not, the machine will not operate.

Once everything is in properly in place, press the "Auto" button and the noodlemaker will start kneading the dough for a few minutes. I love watching it as it kneads. Kinda therapeutic, at least for me, LOL!!!

The noodlemaker will pause for a few seconds once the first kneading cycle is completed (about 3 minutes). It will then start extruding the noodles. I usually wait for it to extrude till it reaches the floured baking sheet or plate. I will then flour the palm of my left hand and hold the back of the noodles as it exits the disc like i'm guiding the noodle strands downwards, and use my right hand to sprinkle flour onto the extruding noodles. This is important to prevent the noodle strands from sticking together.

The noodlemaker stops halfway to knead the dough a second time, pauses, and continues to extrude the dough until it senses that there isnt much left inside the container. Once it stops completely, you may turn the noodlemaker's main power supply off. Hold on to the strands and then run a finger down from the top of the disc to break the noodle strands from it. You can then twist them into individual balls to your preferred serving size.

Here, i twisted a few balls of purple sweet potato noodles. Am still working on achieving a neat twisted ball, hahaha. 

Here is a closeup shot of my purple sweet potato. I love love love love love its shade. It is not the original rich purple color of the steamed tuber. Rather, a gorgeous shade of pastel lilac.

C'est magnifique!!

I served my Homemade Purple Sweet Potato Noodles with sliced cucumbers. And also some cubed purple sweet potatoes from the extra tuber that i steamed for my kid. Seasoned it with some garlic oil, cayenne pepper and black pepper. All it takes is some spring onions and coriander to make it look pretty. Simply delish :)