Index
Noodles are a basic staple of Asian and European cuisines. Chinese noodles may be boiled in soups, stir-fried as chow foon, or deep fried into crunchy strips for chow mein and other dishes. Italian cooking is renowned for noodles such as spaghetti, fettuccine, linguine, and capellini among many other forms of pasta like lasagna, rotini, gemelli, and mostaccioli. Noodles are a favorite food because of their simplicity, versatility, organoleptic appeal, and satiety.
 Cutting pasta by hand |
Noodles consist basically of flour and water.
Ingredients:
A stiff dough is prepared from flour and water. Knead the dough thoroughly, cover with plastic, and allow it to rest for 20 minutes. Flatten the dough with a rolling pin and make a sheet 1mm thick (the thickness of a U.S. penny). Dust with flour to prevent sticking, as necessary. Roll the sheet into a log, and cut slices of the width desired for the noodles. A pasta machine, such as the one illustrated here, can be used to roll and cut the dough evenly.
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Egg noodles are made by using two eggs plus enough water to make 1/2 cup instead of the plain water.
The Chinese were making noodles as early as 300 BC using several techniques. One of them is to dip a chopstick into a batter of flour and water. The batter has to be thick enough to adhere to the chopstick, but light enough to come off when the chopstick is flicked unto a pot of boiling water. The noodles formed by this technique are not uniform in size or shape.
The Chinese also make hand-pulled noodles (la mian) using a flexible dough that can be stretched easily. This is done by increasing the amount of water in the dough (approximately 1 cup of water for every 2 cups of flour). Cover the dough with plastic and allow it to rest at room temperature for at least 60 minutes to relax the gluten. The dough is placed on a countertop covered with plenty of flour and stretched until it looks like a long, thick rope. The rope of dough is folded in half, twisted, and stretched back to its original length approximately ten times. The twisting is done by holding one end of the rope in each hand while the center hangs down under the force of gravity and flinging one side against the other in a circular motion. The rope is twisted first to the right, stretched, floured by rolling on the countertop, and then twisted to the left, stretched, and floured again. This process creates a structure of soft dough fibers surrounded by dry flour that is necessary for being able to pull the noodles. Next, the noodles are made by pulling the dough, resting it briefly on the floured countertop, grabbing the two ends with the left hand, while holding the middle with the right hand. This process is repeated until the noodles are of the appropriate thickness. Each time, the number of noodles doubles.
To cook the noodles, drop them into boiling water and boil for approximately 10 minutes. Drain the noodles and serve them topped with your favorite spaghetti sauce, beef Stroganoff, or chicken cacciatore. You can also make noodle soup by adding the boiled noodles to a well-seasoned chicken soup.
You don't have to go to China to see how hand-pulled noodles are made. Come to the corner of 6th street and H street in Washington, D.C. The Chinatown Express restaurant has a store-front window where you can see the chef pulling noodles for lunch and supper. You may order the noodles stir-fried with your choice of meat, seafood, or vegetables, or in a soup with a variety of garnishes.
