Hand-pulled Noodles
Biang Biang Mian
There is just something so special about handmade noodles. Growing up in Hong Kong we had the pleasure of being raised with an incredible variety of rice and noodle dishes. The realm of noodles is a universe unto itself.. whether it be egg, rice, wheat, mungbean – fat, flat, thin, round – a slurp fest of joy awaits.
These Biang Biang noodles originate from the Shaanxi province in China, and are special because not only are they simple, delicious and affordable, but they have the texture of comfort and slipperiness like no other noodle can quite compare to. Their generous breadth and seemingly never-ending length, along with their valleys of artisanal inconsistencies from the hand made dough all make for a undeniably delightful dining experience.
But the noodles are only 60% of the joy. The overall experience is elevated by the simple salty, spicy, hot chilli oil that the noodles are coated in. it is SO good. Essentially you are making your own flavored oil with all the good things. But do go ahead an experiment with the spice combinations if you’re feeling adventurous.
One thing to mention on the slightly more technical side of things, is when buying a flour you ought to look out for the protein content. Ideally you will want a plain/all-purpose with a protein content between 9-11%. If you stray into the realm of bread flours or those with a higher protein content, the dough will likely become too elastic and will tend to creep back into it’s original form and not stay at the desired length you will be looking for from these noodles.
Also, feel free to jazz up this recipe with any other toppings or flavors or veggies.
There’s a fine balance between the dough being stretched out too thin vs. leaving it too thick. Ever so slight patches of translucency are ideal.
Recipe (makes 2 massive or 3 regular portions)
prep time: 10 mins
rest time: 1 ¼ hrs
cook time: 5 mins
Ingredients:
Noodle dough:
- 300g all-purpose/plain flour
- 150-170ml lukewarm filtered water
- 1tsp salt
Fragrant Oil:
- 80ml neutral oil (vegetable or sunflower)
- 1 small clove garlic finely chopped
- 1 green part of spring onion finely sliced
- 2 tsp light soy sauce
- 1 tsp rice vinegar
- A few drops of sesame oil
- ¼ tsp cumin
- ¼ tsp paprika
- ¼ tsp chilli flakes
- ¼ tsp chilli powder
- pinch white pepper
- A generous pinch or two of Chinese 5-spice powder
- a pinch of salt
Non-negotiable additions:
- 4 baby bok choi (or any veg of choice)
- 2 stalks finely sliced spring onion
- Toasted sesame seeds
Method:
Place the flour into a bowl with the salt and add the water in increments.
Stir around initially with chopsticks until a mound of dough starts to form, then take it out onto a very lightly floured surface and knead well.
Leave the dough to rest for 15 mins then knead it again. You are aiming for a medium to firm dough but it should be smooth. Now leave for another hour (no more than 2).
While the dough is near the end of its rest time, prepare your oil. Place the oil on the stove top in a small pot on a med-high heat. While the oil is heating up, put all the dry spices except the garlic and spring onion into a small bowl.
Just before the oil is ready to come off the stove – when it has reached a high temperature – throw the finely diced garlic and green onion in the pot and then remove from the stove top immediately.
Pour the oil over the spices in the bowl straightaway, being careful not to hurt yourself from the heat of the oil, that may splash. You should hear a delightful crackling and sizzling sound of the hot oil reacting with the dried spices.
Then add your soy, rice vinegar and sesame oil to the mixture and stir. Leave to soak up all the glorious flavors.
Remove the dough from its resting place and knead for a few mins to wake it up.
Roll the dough into a ball and divide into 8 even portions. Take each portion and divide into two, rolling each one into sausage-like shapes (not too long, about +/-8cm). Smother each portion with a bit of neutral oil and set aside.
Get your mates involved if you wish or lead the one-man band in the noodle pulling. You’ll start by flattening out each sausage gently using your fingertips to massage it out into more of a flat, long rectangular shape. You don’t want these to be no more than 3cm in width or they’ll be too wide and hard to handle, and you also don’t want these to be too thin or they’ll break.
One by one, working on a lightly oiled surface, steadily grasp both ends of the rectangular shaped dough, and lift up and then slap in lightly back down onto the surface. Gravity will be your friend here, naturally stretching the dough each time you lift the dough up and outward slightly.
Once the noodle has stretched out (be careful that they haven’t gotten too thin), lay it onto a baking paper lined surface. Continue with the noodle-pulling process and lay each one side by side until they are all done and ready to cook.
Put a pot of water to the boil and once bubbling gently place your noodles in a few strands at a time. They won’t take long to cook at all. If you have any veg to go with this that might need a quick blanche, I would throw them in now as well.
After no more than 5 mins in the water, throw the noodles and veg into a colander to drain.
Using some tongs, carry your noodles over into serving bowls, topping with the cooked veg, a hearty helping of the flavored oil and the ever-essential sprinklings of more spring onion and sesame seeds.
Enjoy x
