How To Hand-Pull Noodles

Ever stood outside a Chinese noodle shop and watched the noodle maker winding the dough around his wrists like yarn then banging the strands onto the bench to stretch them? I have and, while I’ve wondered how to hand-pull noodles like a professional, I’ve always thought it must take a lifetime to learn.

In fact, it’s quite easy! My friend Fang – from Fang’s Dumpling House in Cremorne (Sydney) – taught me how. She comes from Xinjiang, the Muslim-influenced region of north-western China bordering Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, India and Mongolia, where wheat is more common than rice and dishes often feature rustic wheat noodles.

If you have a northern Chinese restaurant in your neighbourhood, ask them to sell you a coil of unstretched wheat noodles and have a go, then use them them to make Stir-Fried Cumin Squid with Noodles.

Here’s how to make Chinese hand-pulled noodles (this is easier to understand when you see it done, so watch my step-by-step video below and Fang teaching me how to do it here):

1. Place a large saucepan of water on the stove to come to the boil.
2. Pull a length of dough (about 50g) off the coil of dough, stretching it slightly as you pull it and pile it onto the work bench; if the strand breaks, just press the ends to stick them back together.
3. Finish by pressing the end of the strand gently onto the bench to hold it in place.
4. Repeat with 2 more strands of dough as close as possible in length to the first strand.
5. Pick up the 3 ends of the dough stuck to the bench and hold them together between the fingers of one hand.
6. Drape the strands over the top of the wrist of the other hand.
7. Lift that hand up and move the other hand beneath it, twisting that wrist across the strands to loop them over the underside of it.
8. Twist that wrist right way up and lift it up so that the strands drape across the top of the other wrist which is now beneath it.
9. Repeat until you reach the end of the strands then grasp each end in the closest hand.
10. Holding the strands taut between your two wrists, slam them onto the work surface, pulling your arms wider apart to stretch the dough.
11. Remove the noodles from around your wrists and place them on the work surface.
12. Cut them into thirds.
13. Add noodles to the boiling water then add a cup of cold water.
14. Cook for about 3 minutes, until the water returns to the boil and noodles are tender, stirring occasionally to loosen them (gently at first).
15. Refresh under cold water, running your fingers through them to separate any stuck together.
16. Drain well, toss with a little vegetable oil and set aside until needed.