Whisky, Video Games, and Things I Fancy
I’ve been tasting whisky for just short of a year now. I’ve just started a series of whisky tasting videos where I compare whiskies, and I thought I should commemorate my first year of whisky enjoyment with a whisky of the year video. So here it is:
Why did I choose Compass Box Great King Street? Lots of factors: (more…)
After, oh, idono, two years? I’ve finally updated my noodle site. I had been wanting to do this for some time. It’s generally the same, but I adjusted the style a bit (it had been bothering me) and, more importantly, I’ve fleshed out the FAQ section more. I’ve collected all the questions I’ve gotten so far on the FAQ, and I’ll try to keep it updated as time goes on.
Check out the newness here: http://www.lukerymarz.com/noodles/
I’ve just gotten word from my friend Chef Tomm that he’ll be teaching a Chinese Cuisine class November 21st at the Professional Culinary Institute in Campbell, CA. This will include how to make hand-pulled noodles. Check out the November class schedule at the PCI hobby classes page for more info. I would highly recommend this class regardless of your hand pulled noodle skill level. At the very least you’ll get a hands on session with some primo noodle dough (he makes some awesomely stretchy noodle dough).
That’s right. Lye. It’s the traditional way to make soft pretzels, but for liability reasons, cooking shows can’t tell you to use lye (I guess). It’s also kind of a bit of work to get ahold of. But without it, your pretzels will taste like they’re missing something. It also gives them that gorgeous golden color:
The recipe to use is the one from Alton Brown (of Good Eats fame). Instead of using baking soda as he suggests, use 1 oz. of lye crystals to 1 quart of water. I used double that because I had a big pot. Get the mixture to a boil and drop each pretzel in the solution for 30 seconds before you glaze em and bake em.
A couple other things of note I came across while making these:
Anyways, I gotta give it to Alton Brown. His recipes are always a delight.
I recently made dragon beard candy (view my photos). It turns out it’s a lot easier to make than hand pulled noodles, but the general process for both is the same. The reason dragon beard is easier is because you can really take your time while making it, and it is very forgiving about mistakes.
So I started by watching this video. Then I did a bunch of research on candy making. There are a few things to watch out for:
Then I experimented a bit with the recipe in the video. I found that:
So following all that, the recipe I had the most success with is this:
Dragon Beard Candy
Combine all the ingredients in a large pot, and boil. Once the temperature reaches 266 F, remove the mixture from the heat. Allow it to cool enough that the bubbles disappear and it becomes transparent. Rather than letting it cool to 212 F and risking crystallization at a low temperature, pour it into small cups immediately. I used little paper Dixie cups, and they didn’t burn or melt. Be careful in your cup choice though, as I used some with a plastic coating that made things a little more difficult.
Pulling the candy is pretty straighforward. Youtube videos are a great help for learning how to do it. Remember to take your time, because the candy CAN break. If it breaks when its still a large diameter, most of the time you can just stick the broken pieces back together by pressing the ends together (sugar is good at sticking to itself). If it’s really thin and you get a few broken strands, don’t worry about it. If you just keep pulling it will work itself back in.
For the peanut mixture, I used peanuts (toasted and ground in a blender or food processor), sesame seeds (to taste), and a little bit of corn syrup to help it stick together nicely. The corn syrup allowed me to get a big pile of peanuts in each dragon beard candy. I like lots of peanuts 😀
Again, here’s a photo gallery of the pulling process. It was really a lot of fun to make, and it was A LOT easier than making hand pulled noodles. So if you’re getting stuck trying to make noodles, take a break and make some candy for a while.
Since there’s been a lot of traffic on my Hand Pulled Noodle Posts, I’ve put together a web page with all the info in one place. I’m probably going to move on to another project in about a month, so if anyone has an feedback or requests for what should be there, let me know. After that I’ll be available to answer questions (which I’ll probably put on the AQ page) through email or on my blog posts.
I finally did it. I bought a Kitchen Aid Pro 600 stand mixer. I got it for a sweet $320 from Bed Bath and Beyond (I finally found a use for the 20% off coupon they keep sending me).
So I went over the translations I got for a post I made about a chinese video I found (special thanks to Rusty), and I came up with another noodle recipe that’s a lot easier than the two previous ones. I did two test batches (the first was too dry, and I botched it with too much baking soda). Here’s what I came up with:
I Hope that makes sense. The goal is to cause a tear in the dough between your hands. At any rate, I think this recipe is probably the best and easiest to understand. Flour for dough. Salt for flavor. Baking soda for texture. Oil for workability. Good Luck, everyone 🙂
I had the idea to check out google.cn today to see if I could find a lamian recipe. Well, I found video of a cooking show in which it looks like they explain… everything? I’m not sure, but there’s information about alkali in there. I can’t read it, however. I’ll have to get some translation done.
I’ve made three posts now going through the process of making hand-pulled noodles. Here’s a quick recap:
Recipes and mixing instructions
UPDATE December 6, 2008 –A better and easier recipe
Kneading and pulling technique
I’ll update this posting with any links to posts I make that have more information.
If anyone discovers this and is successful in making noodles, link some photos or make a comment about your success. I’d love to hear about it!
UPDATE June 25, 2008 — I modifed the description of note 1 on the kneading and pulling post. It sounded like you had to throw your dough away after your tried to pull it ONCE. In actuality, you should be able to practice on the same ball of dough repeatedly for upwards of an hour. My point with that note is that the dough acts a little different if you put it in the fridge and try to knead it the next day.
UPDATE July 20, 2008 — I’ve gotten some questions recently about using only all-purpose flour in the dough recipe. Unfortunately, this doesn’t work. I put together a recipe like this in my trials and the result is something the seemingly never loosens up. I spend 45 minutes or so on it and threw it away. Moral of the story, if you want a recipe that uses one type of flour, you’re better of trying to use all cake flour (which loosens up, but a little too much) or picking out a flour from your local asian market. I’ve had great success just randomly picking chinese and korean flours from the shelf at my local market. They all have pretty low gluten levels.
UPDATE December 6, 2008 – I’ve posted a new recipe here. Try it out! It’s a lot easier than the previous two recipes.