Drain again and then toss in the oil in a large serving bowl to stop the noodles sticking together.
"I'm not an expert in what's authentic and what's not," says Grauman, dipping a crispy noodle stick into a small dish of ketchup.
A waiter in a spruce green uniform clinks a bowl of crispy noodle sticks onto wood-grain Formica and pours a cup of oolong tea so dark it verges on coffee.
If the noodle sticks, it's ready.
Toss in 1 tbsp olive oil to prevent the noodles from sticking together.
There are noodles, incense sticks, dried mushrooms, and every other shop seems to be a butcher's, all pig carcasses and strings of Chinese sausage.
However heretical it may sound to soak dried pasta, doing so can cut its cooking time by two-thirds — and eliminates the problem of dry noodles getting stuck to each other as they slide into the pot.
To keep the noodles from sticking together and to add a peppery, herbal flavor, I coated them with the best extra virgin olive oil I had in the cupboard, along with some Meyer lemon juice and zest for brightness (and because I had a few of the lemons on hand) and garlic for bite.
Team leader Masayuki Nakao said the most difficult part was to prevent the noodles from sticking up in the bowl like alfalfa sprouts.
Noodle cooking tips: Adding about a tablespoon or so of olive oil to the water while cooking will prevent the noodles from sticking.
