The Art of Making Asian Hand Made Noodles 手擀面
While I lived in Taiwan, one of my favorite meals was Beef Noodle Soup. Aside from the amazing flavor of the broth and beef, the hand made noodles were truly amazing. There are hundreds of restaurants which sell the Taiwanese national dish, and all of them pride themselves on their noodles above all else.
Noodles are an essential ingredient and staple in Chinese cuisine. Chinese noodles vary widely according to the region of production, ingredients, shape or width, and manner of preparation. They are an important part of most regional cuisines within China, and other countries with sizable overseas Chinese populations.
Chinese-style noodles have also entered the cuisines of neighboring East Asian countries such as Korea (jajangmyeon) and Japan (ramen), as well as Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam, Cambodia (kuy teav), Thailand and The Philippines.
History
The earliest written record of noodles is from a book dated to the Eastern Han period (25–220 CE).[1] Noodles, often made from wheat dough, became a prominent staple of food during the Han dynasty.[2] In the Western Han Dynasty, due to the demand for military, it was necessary for the Government to implement food processing technologies that would make the food storage easier and more affordable. During this time, “Laomian” emerged, it was made with starch rich buckwheat, millet and pea flours with lower water content, making it easier to store and transport.[3]
During the Song dynasty (960–1279) noodle shops were very popular in the cities, and remained open all night. During the earlier dynastic periods Chinese wheat noodles were known as "soup cake" (Chinese: 湯餅; pinyin: tāng bǐng), as explained by the Song dynasty scholar Huáng Cháo Yīng (黃朝英) mentions in his work "A delightful mixed discussion on various scholarly topics" (Chinese: 靖康緗素雜記; pinyin: jìngkāngxiāngsùzájì, Scroll 2) that in ancient times bready foods like pasta are referred collectively as "bing" and differentiated through their cooking methods.[4]·
Up until 1992, most dried Chinese noodles in the United States could not be sold labelled as "noodles".[5][6] This is due to fact that many Chinese noodles are made without eggs and do not always use wheat as starch, thus resulting in the United States Department of Agriculture obliging manufacturers to label them as "imitation noodles" or "alimentary paste".[5]
Production
Chinese noodles are generally made from either wheat flour, rice flour, or mung bean starch, with wheat noodles being more commonly produced and consumed in northern China and rice noodles being more typical of southern China. Egg, lye, and cereal may also be added to noodles made from wheat flour in order to give the noodles a different color or flavor. Egg whites, arrowroot or tapioca starch are sometimes added to the flour mixture in low quantities to change the texture and tenderness of the noodles' strands. Although illegal, the practice of adding the chemical cross-linker borax to whiten noodles and improve their texture is also quite common in East Asia.[7] In general, the Chinese noodles cooking method involves making a dough with flour, salt, and water; mixing the dough by hand to form bar shapes; bending the bars for proofing; pulling the bars into strips; dropping the strips into a pot with boiling water; and removing the noodles when finished cooking.[8] Chinese type noodles are generally made from hard wheat flours, characterized by bright creamy white or bright yellow color and firm texture. [9]
Before the automatic noodle machine was invented in 1950s, the processing of Chinese noodles were made with four steps, including:
- Fresh – The noodles are often consumed within 24 hours of manufacture due to quick discoloration. Their shelf life can be extended to 3–5 days if stored under refrigeration;
- Dried – Fresh noodle strands are dried by sunlight or in a controlled chamber;
- Boiled – Fresh noodle strands are either parboiled or fully cooked. After parboiling, Chinese noodles are rinsed in cold water, drained and covered with 1–2% vegetable oil to prevent sticking;
- Steamed – Fresh alkaline noodle strands are steamed in a steamer and softened with water through rinsing.[10]
The dough for noodles made from wheat flour is typically made from wheat flour, salt, and water, with the addition of eggs or lye depending on the desired texture and taste of the noodles. Rice- or other starch-based noodles are typically made with only the starch or rice flour and water. After the formation of a pliable dough mass, one of five types of mechanical processing may be applied to produce the noodles:
| English | Chinese | Pinyin | Process |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cut | 切 | qiē | The dough is rolled out into a flat sheet, folded, and then cut into noodles of a desired width |
| Extruded | 挤压 | jǐ yā | The dough is placed into a mechanical press with holes through which the dough is forced to form strands of noodles |
| Peeled | 削 | xiāo | A firm dough is mixed and formed into a long loaf. Strips of dough are then quickly sliced or peeled off the loaf directly into boiling water[11] |
| Pulled | 拉 | lā | The dough is rolled into a long cylinder, which is then repeatedly stretched and folded to produce a single thin strand[12] |
| Kneaded | 揉 | róu | A ball of dough is lightly rolled on a flat surface or kneaded with one's hands until it is formed into the desired shape[13] |
| Flicked | 柭 | bó | A soft dough is prepared, placed in a bowl, strips of dough are pulled and flicked directly into boiling water using a flexible bamboo stick or chopstick[14] |
While cut and extruded noodles can be dried to create a shelf-stable product to be eaten months after production, most peeled, pulled and kneaded noodles are consumed shortly after they are produced.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_noodles
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Uncle Bill
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