Homemade think, wide belt noodles with a lovely method of pouring hot oil over chiles. This dish is named hot oil noodles- Biang Biang mian (Biang Biang noodles) is a very interesting and popular dish in Shaanxi province. And definitely, it was one of my favorite dishes during my four years of university life.
What is Biang Biang Noodles
Biang Biang noodle (biangbiang noodle) is a hot noodle dish from Shaxi province, sometimes known as Xian noodles. The Chinese name for noodles is “main”. So this noodle is also called Yo Po Mian in Chinese. Biang Biang noodle is made with wide, thick, belt noodles with a hot sauce with chili pepper, chopped scallion, chopped garlic, light soy sauce, and black vinegar.
Why it is called Biang Biang Noodles
Lots of Chinese dishes have very interesting names. You can judge the content based on the name for example Fuqi Fei Pian or mapo tofu.
If you never tasted it or have little background information, the name might be weird to you. “Biang” actually is an Onomatopoeia word describing the sound when the noodles smash against the board (especially when smashing against the stainless steel board). So it is named after the sound of pulling the noodles against the board.
If you ever visited Xi’an, you will find another wider hand-ripped noodles—belt noodles (known as KuDai main in Chinese). That particular word is trying to describe the appearance. Kudai or belt noodles are served with a dipping sauce instead of a hot sauce mixed before serving.
The character “Biang”
The word Biang is considered the most complicated Chinese character. People even draw up a pithy formula in order to write it correctly. In case you are curious about how it looks it. There are discussions about where it comes from.
About Shaanxi cuisine
Before we go to the recipe, Elaine wants to introduce Shaanxi cuisine slightly. Unlike Sichuan cuisine and Cantonese cuisine, Shaanxi dishes are less famous outside China. Even in Mainland China, lots of people have very little information about Shaanxi cuisine. However, Shaanxi cuisine is quite unique brand of Chinese cooking, which features flour with chili oil (with vinegar version), vinegar, and many local vegetables. In the beginning, the dishes look less impressive as they are neither so strong as Sichuan dishes, nor so delicate as Cantonese dishes, but you will fall in love after several attempts. Shaanxi province locates in the center of China and different dishes combine and impact each other here. My mom once said we have the most multifarious food in our college dining room after staying with me for several couples of weeks at my university. If you want to try more, check Liangpi cold skin noodles and Roujiamo (Chinese hamburger).
The right type of flour
All-purpose flour is the best type of flour to start with.
Now, jump to this particular recipe—Biang Biang Mian. I recommend using all-purpose flour to make the dough and trying to use less water to form a tough dough. You may think high-gluten flour can make the noodles chewier. Ok, that envision is right. However, it is not easy for beginners to use high-gluten flour to make Biang Biang Mian as the gluten will make the smashing process even harder. And the noodle strips may shrink quickly after being pulled out.
Rest the dough
The key success of pulling the noodle is to rest the dough. The noodle can be easily stretched only after enough resting time. You need to rest the dough for 1 hour. You can also choose to rest longer. The dough can also be premade on the first day and placed in the fridge for resting.
Are biang biang noodles spicy?
Biang biang noodle is spicy but in an acceptable range. It is not overwhelmingly hot. The biang biang noodle has a hot, savory, and slightly sour taste.
If you cannot eat too spicy food, try to use pepper flakes or powder less spicy! As we are pouring hot oil directly over the chili powders, the spicy taste will be motivated greatly.
Are biang biang noodles vegan?
Yes, it is vegan from the ingredient list.
Instructions
- make the dough. I will recommend measuring the ingredients to get the best results.
In a large bowl, mix salt with flour. And stir in water in batches. I usually add 135ml first and then see whether the dough is too tough to knead. Less water indicates a chewier taste. Grasp everything by hand and continue kneading the dough until smooth. Forcefully please or resort to a standard mixer. Cover with a plastic wrapper and rest for 20 minutes.
Knead the dough again for several minutes until the surface is really smooth as I show in the video. Cover with plastic wrapper again and rest for another 15-20 minutes
Prepare a plate and brush some vegetable oil on the surface. And then cut the noodle dough into halves and each half into 6 portions (as equal as possible and cover the other half with a plastic wrapper to avoid drying out ). So we will end up with 12 portions.
Shape each one into a long log and brush the oil around. Cover with a plastic wrapper and let the noodle strip log rest for 1 hour.
Take one portion out, flat it, and roll it out to a rectangle. Press the center with a chopstick so we can separate the noodles later. Hold the two ends of the noodle strip and smash it against the operating board. You can slightly stretch it during the smashing process. But do not hurry; slow down so that you will not break it.
Separate the noodles along with the chop sticker trace.
Now we get the wide, thick Chinese noodles.
Cook the noodles
Boil water in a pot and add noodles. If you feel they shrink, stretch each strip slightly. Bring the large pot to a boil.
Add cold water once after it boils again.
And then add green vegetables to the blanch. The whole process of cooking lasts for around 4 minutes. Transfer out to serving bowl.
Assemble the noodle
You need to heat the oil simultaneously with cooking the noodle. Heat up 2 tablespoons of cooking oil in a small pot until slightly smoky.
Place garlic, green onion, and chili peppers on top and pour the hot oil over the noodles (mainly on the chili powders). Add soy sauce and vinegar and combine well.
Biang Biang Mian
Ingredients
Noodle dough
- 300 g all-purpose flour , 2 cups
- 2 g salt
- 130 ml to 140ml water
Assemble the noodles
- 2 tablespoons chili powder+pinch of salt
- 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons vinegar
- 2 garlic clove , minced
- 2 green onion , minced
- green vegetable for blanching
- 2 tablespoons vegetable cooking oil
- oil for brushing
Instructions
To make the noodle dough
- In a large bowl, mix salt with flour. And stir in water by batches. I usually add 130ml firstly and then see whether the dough is too tough to knead. Less water indicates a chewier taste. Grasp everything by hand and continue kneading the dough until smooth. Forcefully please or resort to a standard mixer. Cover with plastic wrapper and rest for 20 minutes.
- Knead the dough again for several minutes until the surface is really smooth as I show in the video. Cover with plastic wrapper again and rest for another 15-20 minutes
- Prepare a plate and brush some vegetable oil on surface. And then cut the noodle dough into halves and each half into 6 portions (as equal as possible and cover the other half with plastic wrapper to avoid drying out ). So we will end up with 12 portions. Shape each one into a long log and brush oil around. Cover with plastic wrapper and let the noodle strip log rest for 1 hour.
- Take one portion out, flat it and roll out to a rectangle. Press the center with a chopstick so we can separate the noodles later. Hold the two ends of the noodle strip and smash it against the operating board. You can slightly stretch it during the smashing process. But do not hurry; slow down so that you will not break it.
- And the separate the noodles along with the chop sticker trace.
To cook and assemble the noodles
- Boil water in pot and add noodles in. If you feel they shrink, stretch each strip slightly. Bring the large pot to boil.
- Add cold water once after it boils again. And then add green vegetable to blanch. The whole process of cooking lasts for around 4 minutes. Transfer out to serving bowl.
- In the mean time, heat up 2 tablespoons of cooking oil in a small pot until slightly smoky.
- Place garlic, green onion and chili peppers on top and pour the hot oil over the noodles (mainly on the chili powders). Add soy sauce and vinegar and combine well.
Video
Nutrition
What non-spicy toppings do you recommend? Sorry, I am wimp when comes to spice.
Tim,
If you want this to be a Biang Biang noodle, then the chili powder is a must. However you can try to match it with other toppings like this tomato and egg.
Hi Elaine, can you recommend a good chili powder brand for this dish? thank you!
Monica, I love to mix gochugaru with some other spicy powder to get both the flavor and the prefect color.