Last Updated on December 7, 2018 by Fiona Maclean
5-2 Diet – Shirataki Noodles:
Variety is usually good and I wouldn’t have considered doing another noodle dish this week as part of the 5-2 Diet. But, a conversation with fellow dieters on twitter convinced me that these very low-calorie noodles were something really worth trying. And, as it happens I was in Piccadilly Circus earlier this week, just a few minutes away from the Japan Centre, where I’d heard they had stocks of Shirataki noodles (they are currently out of stock at Holland and Barratt).
The reason I was so keen to try was because these noodles have a paltry 5 calories per 100grams, which on the 5-2 diet fast day is really helpful! And, they look pretty much like normal rice noodles.
Shirataki Noodles are made from a soluble fibre called Konjac Glucomannan. The fibre is natural, it comes from the devil tongue yam and is believed that Konjac Glucomannan has the highest water holding capacity of any soluble fibre, swelling up to 100 times its own water weight. The result is that these noodles DO make you feel quite full, while slowing down digestion.
Now, all that sounds wonderful, but I wanted to see what the noodles tasted like. In fact, I am pretty sure I have tried them before – at a little Thai cafe where I used to regularly order a special Thai hotpot. It came with noodles that were just a bit like rice noodles…and I think probably were Shirataki noodles (I could never understand what the owner was trying to say to me, other than that it was a very healthy dish!). Anyway, while I’d like to try making that dish, for now, I’ve just made the prawn version of my Asian noodle dish.

- 200 g Shirataki Noodles Prepared according to the package - this quanty is the 'wet' measure
- 150 g Green Prawns
- 1 Large Spring Onion Trimmed and sliced
- 1 clove Garlic Chopped finely
- 1/2 Red chilli pepper De-seeded and chopped finely
- 2 teaspoons Low Salt Soy
- 1 piece Ginger
- 1 handful Fresh Coriander
- 50 g Green Beans
- 100 g Chinese Leaf
- 10 g Chinese Mushrooms
- 1 teaspoon Chinese Rice Wine
- 1/2 Lime
- 1 teaspoon Sunflower or Sesame oil
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Heat the oil in a wok and cook the ginger, chilli and garlic for a minute or so.
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Add the prawns and cook on both sides till just pink stirring constantly
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Add the remaining vegetables and stirfry for a couple more minutes
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Add in the soy, vinegar and the drained noodles together with most of the coriander. Cook through for 3 minutes adding boiling water or stock if the mixture looks too dry. Stir through the lime juice and check the seasoning adding salt and pepper if necessary
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Serve garnished with the remaining coriander leaves
Calorie Estimate:
Noodles 10cals
Prawns 100cals
Oil 30cals
Vegetables 70cals
Soy, ginger, lime juice etc. 10cals
Total: 210 cals
Now, while I’ve made lower calorie dishes for the 5:2 diet, this is probably the most filling dish I’ve made so far. It made two large and tasty bowls of noodles. And, it left me enough calories for dessert which I am too full to eat right now!
Shirataki noodles themselves are quite bland and pick up the taste of whatever you are using to cook them in. So, they are quite versatile and I can see how they could be used for a range of different dishes. If you are struggling with the 5:2 diet because you find that you are hungry, do try Shirataki noodles. You can buy them online, or from the Japanese Centre. I’d love to hear how you’ve used them for the 5:2 diet because I’ve found recipes online where they are used as a substitute for pasta by dry frying them. They do seem like something of a miracle food for those of us following the 5:2 diet.
this might be better with a dash of Tabasco!
If it can really hold water that much then this sure looks to be a heavy meal even in small servings. No matter, it does not make one fat due to its low calorie content. This glucomannan is good for just about any flavour due to its easy absorbability properties. I have to include this on my list of dietary foods.
I’ve been using these for years as part of normal dieting. I’m trying the 5/2 and using them even more. I use in Asian style dishes and with a tomato sauce or creamy broccoli sauce using zero fat quark, onions, garlic and broccoli for exceptionally low cal Italian type dishes. I also use as a carb replacement with fish or a small piece of turkey (another dieters must have) adding soy sauce and lime.
I keep hearing about these Shirataki noodles and really must try and get some – just have no idea where??? Expect it will have to be via internet in the end. It would be great to use these for an evening meal on a non fruit day.
sometimes from holland and barratt (online and in the shops), or online from . Mine came from the Japan centre…
I need those Shirataki noodles and will be visiting my local Korea foods warehouse to look for them. What a find, thanks for sharing these super healthy noodles :))x
you can order them online too, google ‘zero noodles’
This looks *really* good, and 210Cal sounds about perfect. Definitely putting this in the rotation, or some version of it. Thanks for sharing!