Kluski vs. Egg Noodles

If your recipe calls for a particular type of noodle you don't happen to have, choosing a substitute can be confusing. Some ingredients are so unique that they can't be replaced without radically altering the dish and perhaps ruining it. Others are so similar that you hardly notice the difference if you swap them around. When it comes to kluski noodles and egg noodles, you can often make the swap without spoiling your recipe.

The word "kluski" refers to several types of pasta in traditional Polish cooking, including dumplings, drop noodles and kluski egg noodles. The main ingredients in homemade kluski egg noodles are flour and egg. Dried, commercial brands also include nutritional additives like iron, niacin, riboflavin and folic acid. This type of Polish noodle is often eaten in soups. Compared to regular noodles, kluski egg noodles are very similar to wide egg noodles and tagliatelle, and you can safely substitute one for the other.

On the other hand, if your recipe calls for something like Kluski kładzione, this is something different from the regular egg noodles in your kitchen cupboard. Kluski kładzione are Polish drop noodles. Though this type of noodle is also made from flour and eggs, drop noodles are like small dumplings, not long strips of pasta. Drop noodles are created by scooping walnut-sized pieces of dough with a spoon, dropping the noodles into boiling water to cook them and then adding them to a stew or casserole.

Most types of pasta are made from flour and water, but egg noodles are named for their additional ingredient of eggs. Whole eggs or egg yolks mixed with flour and a little water results in a richer, yellower type of pasta. This type of noodle is sold fresh and dried and comes in thin, medium and thick strips and squares.

The texture of homemade egg noodles is different from commercial products. Recipes for home cooking often contain more egg than the egg noodles in the shops, resulting in a thicker noodle and a more dumpling-like texture. This type of pasta suits casseroles and stroganoffs, though these noodles are so wholesome and filling that you can eat them on their own with only a little butter.

The ingredients and procedure for making kluski noodles and egg noodles are similar, but for kluski egg noodles, you use more eggs. A typical kluski egg noodle recipe requires double the number of eggs to cups of flour. So, for 2 cups of flour, you use four eggs. To make egg noodles, you use the same number of eggs as cups of flour.

To make kluski egg noodles, after mixing the eggs and flour and a little salt, no additional ingredients are required to make a dough. However, to make egg noodles, you must add a little water or milk to bind the mixture of flour and eggs. You might also choose to add baking powder to your egg noodle ingredients. Baking powder supplies fluffiness as the noodles cook and is an effective substitute for the additional eggs in kluski noodles.

Once you've made the dough for both types of noodles, the process is very similar. After allowing the dough to rest for a period of time, you roll it out into thin sheets. At this point, you can wait for 15 minutes for the sheets to dry out a little, or you can cut the strips of noodles first and then allow them to dry for the same amount of time. Cook kluski egg noodles in boiling water until they rise to the top of the pan and cook egg noodles for two to four minutes until they are tender.