Noodle pulling was my first ever blog. Whenever the restaurant has been quiet though, i have always knocked up a quick batch of dough to see if i could improve the basic recipe of water and flour. Was there a problem with the initial recipe? in theory there wasn't, however i always felt that the cooked end product was always a bit on the mushy side. This may be the desired finish as i had a bowl of similar end product at a very famous London restaurant a while back.
I was always stuck in the dilemma of 'is it authentic?' Then recently i was having a chat to a student when i found myself, completely unintentionally advising him that 'regardless of tradition, its more important that you like the taste of the end product.' I took this advice home with me and subsequently whipped up a batch of noodle flour with the addition of an egg! yes, you've got it, contrary to the thousands of recipes that i have searched through over the years for Chinese pulled noodles, i decided to add an egg. I'm sure that there are many village Chinese chefs spitting at the screen whilst reading this, asking themselves 'why waste an egg on noodles when you can use it as a garnish instead?' I DONT CARE! the egg created a texture that was similar to that of Italian pasta, it pulled easily and in my opinion had a better mouth feel.
So without further delay, the recipe is as follows:
100g plain flour.
400g strong bread flour
1 beaten egg.
enough bottled water to create a wet dough.
pinch of salt
why am i using bottled water? well, London's tap water is filtered through limestone and therefore inherently is quite alkali in composition. In using bottled water, we are making up the dough using a neutral pH solution. But the addition of alkali is important in increasing the hydration of the flour proteins you ask? (if your a geek) well, egg white is weakly alkali, and i have found that it is alkali enough to serve the purpose more accurately then the previously added Potassium carbonate or Kansui solution.
The mixture needs to be kneaded in a mixer for 12 minutes and then rested for 1 hour before pulling. The end result however is incredible. Its fun to pull and the noodles have a fantastic bite and texture after blanching.
The Chinese do use a powder they dissolve in water which is Peng Ash. I've used it and it makes a real difference. It is also needed to prevent the noodles from disintegrating when boiled. Can you get this in London?
ReplyDeleteI dont think that peng ash is available in London, however there is something called LYE WATER, which is potassium carbonate solution. You can do one of tow things, either adding it to the dough(but be careful as it can make the dough very tough if used in excess) or it can also be added to the cooking water.
Deletegood luck and let me know how it comes along. Im still trying to work out the different ways of changing the recipe according to humidity.
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DeleteHave you tried Kansui powder? Is that available in London? I was told that Lye isn't that useful. I will try them soon.
ReplyDeletekansui powder has the same effect, its an alkaline powder. if i was you, i would try getting some lye water and adding it to your cooking water to see if this helps your end product, im sure it will. Or is your problem with the pulling stage?
DeleteI am able to pull noodles....but I am not an expert. However, I never did pull noodles without the use of Peng Ash. But, the dough which I was working with was 'made' by myself by hand. I am aware of the fact that using a machine can greatly speed things up. Unfortunately, I don't have a machine capable just one of those weak magimix things. Anyway, than you for your suggestions and I'll be in touch. Incidentally, the guy I knew in China who did this professionally, told me that he varied the amounts of salt according to the season. I've written down what he said somewhere in order to do bulk amounts but I don't have those notes with me now.
ReplyDeleteMay I ask what kind of mixer do you use?
ReplyDeletekitchen aid, put on the dough hook and knead 400g of flour for 12 mins. My latest tests were using Low flour (the chinese flour is categorised into high, medium and low in correlation to gluten levels) which has proven to be very successful.
Deletealso, am using bottled water as london water really messes with the mixture.
I am back. I tried some Sodium Carbonate made by heating Baking Soda over low heat for about an hour has suggested by Harold McGee in order to make Alkaline Noodles. It didn't work for me. I used Plain flour....2lbs with a cup of Corn Flour as suggested to me by somebody on the web who said he used to Hand Pull Noodles in Singapore. Of course, I didn't use a machine because as I said, I don't own one. It didn't work for me although the dough's stretch ability did increase a little but it was in no way comparable to the Peng Hui I used in China. What do you think? Should I change the flour?
DeleteToday I tried Bread making flour with Sodium Carbonate. I thought it was better. But still far from the Peng Hui effect. I've just sent off for some PH testing stuff. I'm determined to get to the bottom of this.
ReplyDelete