Essentially the most well-known means of constructing noodles in China is ‘la mian’ (or ‘chen mian). Noodles are made by merely stretching the dough with each fingers. Any such noodle dishes are typical from Northwestern and central China. There’s one other well-known means of constructing Chinese language noodles, known as ‘dao xiao mian’. On this case, the chef holds a effectively kneaded dough in a single hand, and a knife in one other. The specified form of the noodles is achieved by ‘slicing’ the dough. There’s a third number of Chinese language noodles, which is the one which I’m going to debate subsequent in additional element. This third selection is known as ‘shou gan mian’, which could be translated as hand-made noodles through the use of a rolling pin. The reader could have already guessed that ‘mian’ means ‘noodles’ in Chinese language (it additionally means ‘flour’, relying on the context).
Typical Northeast Chinese language luo si fen are actually mild, even when they’re cooked with meat. They’re very totally different from those that may be present in eating places in Western Europe. The concrete recipe I will likely be describing intimately is known as ‘da lu mian’. It’s a very appropriate dish for spring or summer time, and really home-made, nearly not possible to seek out within the eating places in China.
Making the Noodles
Making good dough is step one in direction of making good noodles. Firstly, the dough can’t be too delicate, so one must be cautious with the quantity of water getting used. To make the noodles extra stretchable, it’s a good suggestion so as to add salt and eggs to the flour when making the dough. The usage of eggs, nevertheless, shouldn’t be a should.
After making the dough, making an attempt to roll it as skinny as doable wants endurance and willpower. A helpful machine is the ‘pasta maker’ (in China it’s clearly known as ‘noodle maker’). The noodle maker could be very useful for chopping the noodles into even strips, in addition to for saving plenty of vitality. The drawback is that it isn’t simple to scrub afterward. Right here, I’ll describe methods to make the noodles by hand.
To arrange the noodles by hand, comply with the steps given subsequent (the components given are for 3 or 4 individuals).
- Combine three cups of plain flour with three quarters of a cup of water, one huge egg and one desk spoon of salt. Knead the dough effectively.
- Roll the dough into a skinny sheet.
- Fold the dough sheet twice, just remember to mud loads of flour on the floor earlier than folding.
- Chop the folded sheet into skinny strips.
- Loosen the strips, mud extra flour if wanted.
Then, boil the ready noodles in water (you may add salt to keep away from the noodles getting caught collectively). And, after eradicating the noodles from the sauce pan, rinse them effectively in chilly water. The noodles are chilly now and able to be served.
The Sauce
There are numerous totally different noodle sauces. Right here, I describe probably the most in style ones, consisting of eggs and tomatoes.
- Chop the tomatoes into items and whisk two eggs.
- In a heated wok, pour round 5 desk spoons of oil after which add the tomato items in.
- When the tomato turns into softer, pour in 1.5L of water and produce the water to boil.
- Pour the whisked eggs into the boiling water. Use a spoon to stir the soup.
- Add two desk spoons of salt, one desk spoon of sunshine soy sauce and a desk spoon of mushroom essence.
Historically, there must be a separate bowl of sesame paste and a plate of thinly shredded cucumber on the desk.
To arrange the sesame paste, first put 3 desk spoons of sesame paste in a rice bowl; then, regularly pour in water whereas whisking it, till the paste turns into thinner, and add some salt in (this sesame sauce is meant to be a bit salty).
Serving
Put the noodles into a big bowl (or noodle bowl), then add just a few huge spoons of egg and tomato sauce, a few spoons of sesame paste, and shredded cucumber on the highest. One might additionally add just a few drops of rice vinegar and chili oil.