Hi oomis!
You don’t need to burn the house down. But if you want to make authentic Yerushalmi kugel, you do have to melt, or caramelize, sugar. Regular sugar caramelizes at above 300′ F. (Water boils at 212′ F) So you”ll be dealing with something very hot. Be careful!
Use a heavy pot, a sturdy wooden spoon or heat proof spatula, and wear baking gloves, if you like.
Preheat oven to 350′
Cook 10-11 oz noodles. Drain well. Set aside. Do this close to time you are preparing rest of ingredients. (You don’t want to add cold or refrigerated noodles to melted sugar.)
Beat in a bowl: 4-5 eggs, 1/4-1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2-3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper, 1/4 cup sugar.
Pour 1/3 cup oil and 1 cup sugar into pan. Heat over medium flame, stirring gently as sugar begins to melt & turn brown. Be patient. When sugar is dissoved and you have a smooth golden brown liquid, lower flame. Add noodles slowly (careful the mixture may sputter and spritz a bit) stirring all the while. If you get a few hardened lumps in the melted sugar, don’t worry; they”ll dissolve as the kugel bakes. Remove from flame and allow to cool a couple of minutes, then add the egg mixture, beating well. Pour mixture into round (approx 8″ Diameter) pan.
A real metal, or even better- Pyrex pan will give you a good crust. A foil pan will save you time.
Bake for 1 hour.
Takes a bit of time and practice, and you may want to tweak the ingredients to suit your family’s tastes.
Enjoy!