Comments on: How To Make Hand-Pulled Noodles: Overview

By: sindhu

sindhu — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:46:27 +0000

arrrghhhh…i’ve faileddddddddddddddddddd well ive tried your method with diffrent brand or flour…since iam not in state…still not working…i used 31 percent water,
9 percent oil conola, 3 precent salt, and 1 percent baking powder from the flour…and it’s a mess the dough are very hard….i hardly able to pull them…, …i endup using the rolling noodle machine……911 911….

By: gregcooking

gregcooking — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 16:51:59 +0000

hey luke! Just wanted to say a massive thankyou for posting this up. I managed to pull the noodles tonight and they were fantastic…lots of work but fantastic! If anyone is interested, I've blogged my newbie journey on making these noodles too.

By: Janet

Janet — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:24:29 +0000

The easiest way to get dough off your hands: Dip your hands into dry flour. Hold your hands over the garbage can and rub. Roll off as much dough as you can before washing your hands; you'll need much less water and the drain won't gunk up.

By: Janet

Janet — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 13:53:33 +0000

Saw your link to Martha Stewart's show on noodles. There is another video of Wai Ming Cheng (noodle chef) at http://www.philippechow.com/chef-chow-cooking-class.php

By: Dara

Dara — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 18:14:00 +0000

so glad i found your site! there was once a restaurant here in chicago that had a guy in a window pulling noodles — can’t find it anymore. in my search on the net for this place i found your youtube videos and then this blog. i’ve got the stand mixer already so i’ll cheat and use that thanks for all your work and simplifying a very mysterious noodle method!

By: Luke Rymarz

Luke Rymarz — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 18:08:00 +0000

@jpt:

I have tried Lye Water, and I even have a recipe that uses it. But it's function is the same as baking soda. It just adjusts the texture of the dough a little. You don't even need it to make hand pulled noodles, actually. All the notes about it being the secret ingredient that loosens up the dough are bunk. In fact, if you add too much, it will make the dough tight like a flexed muscle... un-pullable.

The secret to hand pulled noodle dough is just a lot of kneading. More kneading than you'd ever knead any other dough.

By: jpt

jpt — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 19:15:00 +0000

hey very informative, thanks! was doing research about using soda but was led to kansui as the secret ingredient, aka lye water: http://store.pinoygrocery.com/se-50113.html

have you tried?
i will try your recipe soon and see if i can find some lye water locally.

By: Nick

Nick — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 03:12:00 +0000

Success!!
At least, I think so.
Having never eaten authentic lamian noodles before, I am unsure whether the genuine article is supposed to be as mushy as mine.
However, with your help and a little bit of my own guesswork, I was able to pull, cook, and enjoy some long, slender, and delicate noodles.
I took your most recent recipe (posted 12/08) and made it with the addition of a little bit of sesame oil (about 10g).
The dough came together fine, but when it came to the pull it kept tearing. So I simply kept adding water, a bit at a time, until the ball became almost too sticky to handle. After a few test pulls, and the addition of just a bit more water, I took the leap and added the flour to keep them from sticking.
As I said, they are soft and a bit gummy (I did not have a broth to serve them in) but it seems like they would hold up well in a soup.
As a culinary student, it is nice to see someone from another walk of life take such an interest in something so remarkable. I thank you on behalf of all the people I am going to feed with this neat little trick!
And remember, Dragon Warrior--there *is* no secret ingredient!

By: Luke Rymarz

Luke Rymarz — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 07:16:00 +0000

@giantskittle:

Those laghman noodles look doable. I can’t tell you if the textures would match, but that size with my dough has a really nice texture. Way more chewy than any other dried noodles I’ve tried.

By: giantskittle

giantskittle — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 08:49:00 +0000

Hey Luke–wow your experimentation process and the detailed explanations of everything from recipe to pulling technique are absolutely awesome! I can’t wait to try this out for myself, especially since I can get to Marina quite easily from MV =)

I stumbled upon your post because I was looking for a place to get laghman noodles in the States. I was in Beijing last winter and absolutely fell in love with the laghman they served (for USD$1.50 USD/plate) at the Xinjiang regional office restaurant. I was wondering if your technique can replicate this kind of noodle, which looks a bit thicker and firmer (chewier) than your noodles, but I’m sure they are made with a similar technique. Anyway it is the most delicious thing in the world, slathered with peppers, onions and bits of lamb.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_KZE9UbRiTeg/SD97INXHIHI/AAAAAAAABSc/UObcCDsJWy0/s1600-h/dapanji_laghman.jpg