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.

Hot Prawn Shirataki Noodles

Print recipe

• Print with main photo
• Print text only

Serves	1
Prep time	5 minutes
Cook time	10 minutes
Total time	15 minutes
Meal type	Main Dish
Misc	Serve Hot
Region	Asian

Ingredients

• 200g Shirataki Noodles (Prepared according to the package - this quanty is the 'wet' measure)
• 150g 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
• 50g Green Beans
• 100g Chinese Leaf
• 1 teaspoon Sunflower or Sesame oil

Optional

• 10g Chinese Mushrooms
• 1 teaspoon Chinese Rice Wine
• 1/2 Lime

Directions

Step 1	Heat the oil in a wok and cook the ginger, chilli and garlic for a minute or so.
Step 2	Add the prawns and cook on both sides till just pink stirring constantly
Step 3	Add the remaining vegetables and stirfry for a couple more minutes
Step 4	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
Step 5	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.