GF/CF Hungarian Nockerl (Noodle) Recipe

My sister and her fiance (who is German) are planning to move to the United States and marry. They are master wine makers and great cooks like my Mom. Last week, they made some Hungarian goulash and noodles, which were delicious and intriguing. When she described how she made the noodles, I realized it might be a great RDI activity because the technique is unusual and could be framed for many different objectives. The big trick for me was to create a gluten-free, casein-free version so Pamela could actually eat it!

The big caveat is you do this over boiling water and you need a child who is settled and calm. If you hold the grater, you will be closest to the pot and that might be one way to scaffold. You could experiment doing it over a small bowl of hot water and then transfer the water to the pot of boiling water. I did not need to do that with Pamela.

Special Equipment:
Grater with large holes, spatula, whisk or beater, slotted spoon

Ingredients:
3 eggs
4 tablespoons non-cow milk
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup white rice flour
3/4 cup potato flour
1/2 cup corn starch
1 tablespoon xanthum gum
Water

Steps:
Bring a pot of water to a boil while you make the noodles.

Put the eggs, milk, and salt in a bowl. Beat well to get air into the liquids.

Put the flours, starch, and xanthum gum in a separate bowl and mix well. Add the flour to the liquid a half cup at a time and mix.

Here is a moment of uncertainty. Add a little water at a time until the dough is slightly wet and shiny, loose yet sticky. I did not have enough liquid in my dough, which was hard to mash in the next step.

I am posting video clips to get you through the rest of the recipe. Get the grater and the spatula and hold the grater over the pot of boiling water. Pamela referenced me to figure out the tools and what to do next. Place a spoonful of dough on the grater.


Push down on the dough to force it through the holes to form the noodles. We struggled here because my dough was too dry! The nockerl will fall into the boiling water and sink to the bottom. This is a great moment for declarative language, too.


Because the dough was too thick, I had to provide more support for Pamela. This is another great moment for declarative language because the nockerl that are ready will float to the surface of the water.


I did not have a bowl and slotted spoon handy to allow more referencing. Pamela gets these utensils out in this clip.


Use the slotted spoon to retrieve nockerl on the surface. This is my favorite clip. Pamela was paying careful attention to what I was doing. I stirred the nockerl into the spoon, paused, and looked at Pamela. She looked back at me and then placed her hand on the spoon to assist me! She split her attention between the nockerl and my face very nicely. Then, I backed off my hand and gave her minimal support in spooning out the nockerl herself. In a non-verbal way, I am helping her to let the noodles drain in the slotted spoon before putting them in the bowl. Then, we ended the clip with our taste test.


I did not measure the quantity, but I think the recipe yields 2 1/2 to 3 cups of nockerl. WOW! I found it delicious and ate some for lunch and dinner!

Pamela put tomato sauce on hers and ate it up! I stored the rest in a plastic bag and, when I served myself some for dinner later that day, the noodles still tasted yummy. They did not mush up on me like some GF/CF noodles do when stored.

While Pamela enjoys the fruit of her labor, we talk about what everyone thinks of her noodles in this final clip!