Don’t add olive oil to the pasta water. Oil and water molecules simply don’t mix. Most of the oil will end up floating on the surface of the pasta water. Some of the oil will coat the noodles with a layer that will do more harm to your pasta dish than good, as it will prevent them from absorbing pasta sauce later on. When it comes to cooking time, dried pasta nests are not that different from dried pasta as a whole. As someone obsessed with tagliatelle, fettuccine, and most other long and ribbony pasta varieties, here’s my best advice for how to cook them to perfection. When it comes to pasta, it’s best to cook homemade or fresh pasta within 2-3 days from making or buying it. Commercially-dried pasta that’s sold in stores retains peak quality for up to 2 years. Store-Bought Dried Pasta You can also add onions, spring onions or other desired vegetables to this soup if you wanted. To add extra flavour to the soup, you can also put a bit of soy sauce.

Doing so allows the noodles to absorb the sauce, which greatly improves the taste and texture of your pasta dish. To make it “perfect,” add 1 cooking spoonful of salty and starchy pasta water to the frying pan as you toss and cook the noodles with the sauce. By the end of this post (and the next time you make pasta), your family and friends will think that you’ve secretly gone to an Italian cooking course and never really intended to tell them. How to Tell When Dried Pasta Nests Are DoneIn the Philippines, the Nido Soup is the local version of the Bird’s nest soup and it originally came from El Nido, Palawan. The pasta insert keeps the pasta from moving around in the pot as it cooks. It also makes straining the pasta much easier than holding the pot over a colander in the sink. When you’re using a pasta insert, all you have to do to strain the pasta is hold the insert over the pot for 5 to 10 seconds. Pasta inserts make it easier for you to cook and strain pasta nests To make the sauce, mix the hot water and sugar in a large roasting dish, stirring to allow the sugar to melt and the water to cool. This should only take a few minutes. Add the soy sauce, ginger, garlic and chilli flakes, if using, and mix well. Add 4 quarts water for every 1 pound pasta, salting the water 1 tablespoon sea salt (or any other salt you have in your home kitchen). That’s a super-valid technique for making pasta, as long as you don’t add olive oil to the cooking water and don’t rinse the noodles after they’re done. I’m going to tell you about a technique that doesn’t take that much more time and effort, yet leads to a whole lot tastier pasta.

Let me share with you the Nido Soup recipe that we tried in El Nido. Prepared and cooked by Mrs Clarisse Abus for our group using the fibrous pieces of Bird’s nest which are locally called “Sinisa”. Nido Bird’s Nest Soup Recipe: Ingredients: Cook your pasta sauce in a saucepan as you’re boiling the noodles in a large pot. Strain the noodles when they’re done and add them to the frying pan, turning the heat on your cooktop down to medium, tossing and cooking them with the sauce for 1-2 minutes.The Bird’s nest soup originates from China. It has been a popular and expensive Chinese cuisine. The Chinese started to serve the bird’s nest soup during the Ming Dynasty around 1,500 years ago. Historians believed that the Bird’s nest also known as the Swallow nest was brought to China from Southeast Asia as an imperial gift to the Chinese emperor. Add the 5 nests of noodles to the roasting dish, flipping them over to coat them in the liquid. If the marinade has become quite dry, add up to another 300ml/10fl oz hot water.