Basic Chinese style homemade (handmade) Chinese noodles recipe. If you are searching for some idea about how to make yummy Chinese style noodle dishes, check Chinese noodle recipes.
It is really interesting when you make noodles at home. Chinese people especially people from the Northern provinces think this is just a routine for daily life. Homemade noodles usually provide a more chewy taste than store bought ones. If you visits Chinese friends, and they treat you with fresh handmade noodles, then I would love to congratulate you for a real friendship.
The basic steps are easy but there are lots of details for the perfect outcome.
Firstly about the basic ingredients:
For noodles, high gluten flour will be highly recommended for a chewy taste. But if you really do not care about the taste that much, all-purpose flour is quite Ok too.
About how much water;
Usually the dough for noodles should be tougher than steamed buns so for 250g flour, I would use around 120g of water. The ratio is slightly less than 2:1. However this is not a actuate number since different flours have different water-absorbing capacity. Usually high gluten flour has a higher water-absorbing capacity. So the rule is to add the water little by little and make some adjustment if necessary.
The toughness of the dough should be harder than steamed buns. You may feel difficult in kneading the dough at the very beginning. If you are not skilled in dealing with tough dough, rest it for around 10 minutes and then continue kneading until the dough is smooth.
If you use egg liquid to replace water partly or completely, then this will be homemade egg noodles.
Now let’s begin
Add flour, (egg) pinch of salt in a deep bowl. Pour in water step by step. Stir the flour with a tool. Stop pouring water when you see there is no dry flour in your bowl.
Grasp everything together and begin kneading the dough until your hand is clean, your bowl is clean and the dough has a smooth surface. Then keep kneading for another 10 minutes. Cover with a wet cloth and rest for around 30 minutes. After that, the dough will become slightly softer.
Transfer the dough to a floured operating board, should be large enough in picture 1. Roll it into a thick wrapper firstly as picture 2.
Roll the dough into rectangle or round wrapper with around 0.5 cm in thick, keeping remaining dough covered with flour (picture 3 and 4).
Fold the large dough wrapper around 5cm wide(picture 5) . Each time after folding up, spread the surface with flour. Cut the remaining part off.
Cut the folded dough into thin strips with a sharp and dry knife. (picture 6)
Spread flour on the surface before picking the noodle strips.
Unfold the strips one by one and then shake the extra flour off.
Here we are.
How to cook: cook the noodles in boiling water for around 4 minutes. Each time when the water is boiling in your pot, add around 1/4 cup of cold water, wait boiling again. Repeat the process once.
Ingredients
- 250 g high gluten flour , around 1 cup+2/3 cup
- 120 g water , around 120ml, can be replaced by egg liquid partly or completely
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
- Add flour, pinch of salt in a deep bowl. Pour in water slowly. Stir the flour with a tool. Stop pouring water when there is no dry flour in the mixing bowl (depending on the flour you are using, the water absorption might be different. )
- Knead the dough until your hand is clean, your bowl is clean and the dough is smooth. Then keep kneading for another 10 minutes.
- Cover with a wet cloth and rest for around 30 minutes.
- Transfer the dough to a large floured operating board. Roll it into a thick wrapper firstly.
- Roll the dough into paper-thin rectangle or round wrapper, keeping remaining dough covered with flour.
- Roll the dough into rectangle or round wrapper with around 0.5 cm in thick, keeping remaining dough covered with flour.
- Fold the large dough wrapper around 5cm wide. Each time after folding up, spread the surface with flour. Cut any irregular part if necessary.
- Cut the folded dough into thin strips with a sharp and dry knife.
- Spread flour on the surface before picking the noodle strips.
- Unfold the strips one by one and then shake the extra flour off.
- Cook them directly or refrigerated up to 7 days in air--tight bags.
Nutrition
Cooked ! It tastes really good!
Hi!
If I may, here is my feedback on the recipe:
I made the noodles 2 days ago, except that I made it with 1 egg and less water. The total volume of water and eggs is more than 120ml. In fact, I had to use about 125ml total. I wonder if that could be due to the drier weather in New York City. Furthermore, I used unbleached bread flour. Maybe that makes a difference to the amount of water required (?)
I found the dough difficult to roll out. It felt really hard and I could barely get it to 0.5cm thick. However, I was also using a rolling pin that isn’t as large as yours, I suspect. Maybe that makes it harder.
The overall taste is great, though the noodles could have been thinner. I will try your egg noodles recipe tomorrow.
Thanks again!
Best,
Clara
Clara,
Using less water is a way to make the noodles chewier. But if you feel it is hard to roll our, just cover it and rest for another 20 minutes. When the gluten is well relaxed, it should be much easier to roll out.
Hi Elaine,
I follow at the youtube channel The Food Ranger. That guy do the great job for popularisation of Chineese cuisine. Now, I am very much in it and try to figure it out, how to best copy/paste some things. I wondered regarding noodles, is it maybe some diference in a way you extract noodles, because everywhere where this guy was, people do it by pulling it, not by cutting it. How hard is to learn such a thing?
Also would like to know how chiefs in China prepare beef meat on slices. I ahve eat the best Chinese dish in my life in Serbia, where pieces of beefs (and pork also) are cutted in “leaf” shape, tiny (maybe 3-4mm) and it was delicious, soft and tasty. It was mixed with cabbage, bamboo shoots, carrot, and some other vegetables. Its amazing taste. I never found better taste til this moment. If you have some receipe how to prepare beef and/or pork for this kind of dishes I would be very greatfull to you.
Regards
Neshco,
Real Chinese hand pulled noodle is a traditional secret recipe passed by teachers, I never have the chance to make it. So sorry that I cannot figure out how hard the process is. For your second question, I am quite hard to define the dish. Can you please provide more information? For example how it tastes and whether there is any sauce matched?
Tahnks for reply Elaine,
to be honest, there is no specific taste, it is common beef and pork taste, and I have noticed that it was prepared, before was added to the dish. Like it is prepared and stored until use. But, it was incredibly soft and juicy in the same time. Meat absorb flavor from the dish, so it is not about flavor, its just about structure. And I dont know how to achieve that specific softness and juiciness…
My noodle got stuck to each other in the water. Pls advise.
The dough is not well kneaded or you cook the noodle with deficient water.
Finally some good guide… Thank you.
Thanks Albert!
It was very easy to make them.My brother and sister loved it.Thanks for the recipe.
You are the most welcome, Sarika!
I want to learn the noodle making
Hi! Thanks for the recipe! For clarity replace the word “blow” with “bowl” and “reset” with “rest”.
Nice catch, Barbara! Thanks so much.
These noodles look so amazing! Thank you for sharing this beautiful recipe!
Happy New Year!
Dawn Wang
Thank you! Happy New Year to you and your family too.
Thank you for the clear directions! We are having a Kung fu Panda themed dinner night and this will go great in our “secret ingredient soup”! 🙂 My family loves Chinese noodles eaten all sorts of ways. They are gonna LOVE fresh handmade noodles!
Thanks Melissa for your wonderful feedback. I am quite curious about the secret ingredient soup.
Hi Elaine
I would like to know how to make Kuey tiao rice noodle ..can you help me.
I think its cantonese and in Malaysia its usually used for Char Kuey Tiao.
I will see whether I can find a recipe about how to make rice noodles at home.