Instructions were perfect…just like noodles from the Asian shops! Thanks for commenting, and I’m so glad you’re loving the recipe! I have been making egg noodles of all types since I was a child so I CAN with absolute certainty say it is the lye water. Cut as desired. Once you’ve thinned the dough into a long sheet, cut it into manageable lengths. Cheers! Its either anhydrous, pure sodium carbonate, or, as sodium carbonate decahydrate crystals. Make a bit batch and freeze the extras after they are cut for a quick ramen shortcut next time! Add the white portion of the scallions, ginger, and garlic to the wok and stir fry for about 1 minute, or until the scallions are tender, authentic, chewiest noodles, chinese noodles, eggs, noodles, (~3 cups), plus extra for rolling/dusting - see note, (1 tsp) see note for substitution or omission. Is it the lye interacting with the eggs? There are less-expensive options out there though, so shop around if that’s an issue for you and get a “starter” machine while you see if you enjoy pasta making. As a general rule, bread flour is fairly high in gluten, while pastry flour is comparatively low. If you are uploading a photo that does not belong to you, please provide documentation that you have permission to use the photo to FBRblog(at)yahoo.com or the photo will not be approved. You can also use 2 eggs or 1 egg and increase the water, or a combination of egg yolks, whites, and water. Go here. That being said, in terms of pure numbers you can generally substitute two yolks for one whole egg, as the average egg is about 50:50 yolk/white. If the dough is kneaded or rolled a lot it will form more gluten. They’re used in a wide variety of dishes, but are especially popular in soups and in so-called ‘dry’ dishes (i.e. Learn how your comment data is processed. Looking for a visual aid? Granny Trace, http://www.grannytracescrapsandsquares.com. This recipe is a riff on hiyashi chuuka, with tons of tender summer veg.. Photo by Chelsie Craig, Food Styling by Kat Boytsova. Noodle-making has long been one of those kitchen duties generally assigned to specialist shops and merchants, with few people making them at home for themselves. You’ll find lots of information about how the method used to cook these noodles makes a difference (or is purported to), but when it comes to the noodles themselves, a good quality egg noodle makes excellent mee pok when rolled thin and cut into fat strips. There is so much information in this post — honestly, I have read it three times and I keep picking up something new. I made this recipe for egg noodles (I reduced it to 2/3 the amount to put in my Phillips Pasta Maker (minus lye water or baking soda) and they turned out wonderfully! All of these yield noodles with varying textures and flavours. mee pok), but if you’re careful and you work with a good knife, you should be able to manage thinner noodles just fine. Hi. Thank you! A small amount of homemade sodium carbonate (about 1/8 tsp) can be added as a dry ingredient to your dough to achieve much the same effect that you’d get with lye water. Privacy Policy, Disclosure, Disclaimer, and Terms of Use. Hi Sean, love this post on noodles and as usual I am left with so much knowledge and learning. It’s a lot stiffer than kneading bread or egg noodles. I’m new here and want to try and make more of your recipes, I feel like I learned a lot about the noodles! Volume measurements are inconsistent between different flour types, and you’ll get better results here and in your baking by using weight. The noodles are done once they’re brittle and completely dry. Like to see one? Feed the dough through the largest opening on a manual or electric pasta maker. With a long sharp knife, carefully cut the sheet into noodles of any desired thickness. Roll quite thin. If you’re looking to keep it super-simple, you can omit the egg too, and just use the sauce and green onions. Never before would I have believed a homemade noodle without eggs would taste good. Hi Sean, thanks for sharing this article and i learnt a lot from it esp the lye water. I am a huge fan of egg noodles, but never knew they were made with lye water. That makes me very happy to hear Lea! Liberally dust the surface with flour or cornstarch, then carefully fold the sheet up into a roll as shown in the image below. While I love egg noodles, I’m sometimes out of eggs when I want to make noodles. Unfortunately I can’t say for sure if the substitution will work exactly the way you want it to without trying it out… but I think your chances are pretty good. The yellow yolk represents gold, and the eggs themselves represent fecundity and wishes for a big and healthy family. Add the noodles to the wok and stir fry for about 1 minute, stirring continuously. I’m making an educated guess that it is the eggs, though I’m not sure whether the lye is playing a role or not. In Recipes by SeanFebruary 10, 201840 Comments. I have made pasta though and I feel like I can totally pull this off! When I saw the pucture of the cut pasta it brought back memories of Nicoletta”s Nonna. If you have extra noodles or you’re making them in advance, cover loose bundles with plastic wrap or place them in airtight bags and freeze them. You can omit it and just use eggs, though the texture may be slightly softer. Wonton Noodles – 雲吞麵 – yún tūn miàn; wan4 tan1 min6 – Strictly speaking, this name applies more accurately to a finished soup dish than it does the noodle itself, though this name is often used in English on noodle packaging. I am pretty happy with my version of the traditional homemade ramen noodle, as was my family, so I’m super excited to share it with you here! Dust with flour if they are sticking at all. I actually posted two Chinese New Year recipes on Diversivore this year (the other one is for chao nian gao), and I want to avoid repeating myself too much, so I’ll keep this bit brief. But for the rest of you, let me tell you just why you the three reasons you should make your own egg noodles at home. As you can see in the photo above, the very dry and flaky first step should work into a pretty nice, even ball with a bit of work. So glad my post was able to help you out, and I’m happy that the noodles worked out so well for you! HARD PASS. Note: for each variety below, the common English name is given, followed by the name in Traditional Chinese characters, Mandarin (Pinyin), and Cantonese (Yale with tone numbers). If the noodles were particularly hard it’s probably one of two things (or a combination of the two). If you want to hand-cut your noodles, keep reading. Baking soda is is sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) and heating it causes it to decompose and give off carbon dioxide and water, forming sodium carbonate (Na2CO3). The dough is then worked by repeatedly bouncing the bamboo pole up and down. Sometimes I come up with an idea that I want to put out there so badly, and it just can’t happen because it seems so out of place at that time of year. Thanks for reminding me. With the scale, the measurement is always spot on. easygoinglady on Is my chicken safe to store on the shelf? Top notch post as always, Sean! Both compounds are alkaline in solution, but unlike its cousin baking soda, sodium carbonate won’t give off carbon dioxide gas in your dough. Alright, let’s end this epic how-to with a simple little dish to test out your awesome new egg noodles, shall we? I saved your recipe as I always seem to be out of eggs when it’s time to make noodles. I love the noodle photos and the egg photo. https://www.lehmans.com/product/handcrafted-cherry-noodle-cutter/, https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=%22Noodle+Cutter+Rolling+Pin%22&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiYl-Pl1YHnAhU8QEEAHRCmA3gQ_AUoAnoECAsQBA&biw=1600&bih=736#imgrc=iigfyPTKOwFbKM. This is almost always avoidable if you refrigerate any unused dough within a certain time frame after making. As the name suggests, it’s all about good noodles and good soy sauce. If you leave this dough out at room temperature for more than about 3 hours you’ll notice the bright yellow hue begin to fade it a greyish-bluegreen colour. Cheers! This I need to try. We make homemade pasta and dumpling wrappers all the time, but i have never made homemade noodles. Add the remaining sauce and stir fry for an additional minute or so. There are about 100 different versions of homemade ramen noodles, but the basics are all the same. Thank you so much for sharing. This is good for holding the noodles together and making them chewy, but it can become too much if it’s overdone. Repeat on progressively smaller settings until the dough is about 3 mm thick (I found the #3 or middle setting worked best). I laughed out loud at the description of your children eating noodles Oh, and don’t get me started on gluten! This looks like a FUN weekend experiment for sure. This sounds amazing, and I love the tips on freezing or drying – I love making big batches ata time so I have some on hand when a craving hits, but I have never had much luck preserving pasta etc Will have to try out our dehydrator next time! If you do give it a shot I’d love to hear how it goes! They excel in soups, where their rich flavour and chewy texture holds up very nicely. They’re surprisingly easy – especially if you have a pasta maker, but even if you’ve only got a rolling pin. Both flat and spaghetti noodles. The homemade kansui is an alkaline solution made from baked baking soda, and it can be irritating to your skin. Steamed chicken (with the head and feet attached) represents food and plenty for the whole family, as well as family unity. Knead the dough until it forms a tight and smooth ball. As with all stir fries, the key to success is keeping things REALLY hot while keeping them moving in the pan. Just made this recipe without looking at the recipe but by reading your detailed account of noodle making! The thin cutting blades on my pasta maker sliced thin you mian style noodles in mere seconds, saving me the trouble of working by hand. They seem to be a very popular exported noodle, showing up in Southern Chinese expat communities all around the world, yet the noodles seem to generally be named after the dish they end up in (hokkien noodles, which seem to be more-or-less the same, are another example of this phenomenon). If you only have access to all-purpose flour, you can still make this work fine, but you’ll need to double the kneading time to encourage more gluten formation. I hope that helps a bit! Way back in the day, when I was a stay at home mom with time on my hands, one of my favorite things to do was make homemade pasta. I haven’t made them, but you can bet I’m going to try. and several other questions, clstinson1 on Is my chicken safe to store on the shelf? One bunch of scallions, greens and whites separated and sliced into 4 cm (~2 inch) pieces, 4 servings of egg noodles, boiled and drained, but still warm, Add the scallion greens to the wok along with half the sauce and stir-fry for about 30 seconds. If you have a pasta machine that mixes everything together, follow those instructions. I did this with my pasta machine, but you could do it just as easily with a rolling pin. That’s great of course – I personally think my chocolate beet cake is a pretty stellar little seasonal recipe, and if I could tie little recipe cards to Cupid’s arrows, you can bet that I would. Get the handy print page and save this to your recipe box here: It’s also really good for eating out of a container in front of an open refrigerator at midnight – not that I speak from experience or anything. If you’re looking to keep up to date on all of the recipes, guides, and features here on Diversivore, be sure to subscribe for email updates. I love that you are married into a different Asian culture. This is important because we’re trying to increase the pH, not leaven the mixture.