Tiny Urban Kitchen

Exploring Food from Boston to Hong Kong and Beyond

  • About
    • About Me
    • Tiny Urban Kitchen’s Favorite Equipment
    • Press
  • Recipes
    • Recipe Index
    • Asian
      • Chinese
      • Taiwanese
      • Thai
      • Malaysian
      • Japanese
      • Korean
    • Appetizers
    • Soups
    • Salad
    • Pasta
    • Noodles
    • Rice
    • Vegetarian
    • Meat
    • Sweets
      • Baking
      • Ice cream
      • Cookies
    • Misc
    • Kawaii (Cute)
  • Travel / Restaurants
    • United States
      • Boston
        • Jen’s Picks
        • Boston
          • Allston
          • Back Bay
          • Brighton
          • North End
          • South End
        • Cambridge
          • Kendall Square
          • Inman Square
          • Central Square
          • Harvard Square
          • Porter Square
          • North Cambridge
        • Somerville
          • Davis Square
          • Union Square
        • Greater Boston
          • Brookline
          • Arlington
          • Belmont
          • Watertown
          • Newton
          • Lexington
          • Concord
          • Burlington
          • Natick
        • Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, Berkshires
      • Vermont
      • Maine
      • New York
      • Washington DC
      • Philadelphia
      • Orlando
      • Chicago
      • Las Vegas
      • California
        • Los Angeles
        • San Francisco
        • Napa
        • Sonoma
      • Seattle
      • Hawaii
    • Canada
      • Montreal
      • Canadian Rockies
      • Toronto
    • Argentina
    • Europe
      • United Kingdom
        • London
        • Oxford
      • Italy
        • Rome
        • Piedmont
      • France
        • Paris
        • Bordeaux
      • Spain
        • Madrid
        • Barcelona
        • Catalonia / San Sebastian / Girona
      • Germany
      • Belgium
        • Brussels
      • Switzerland
      • Greece
      • Finland
      • Norway
      • Denmark
    • Japan
      • Japan Guide
      • Tokyo
      • Osaka
      • Kyoto
    • China (Mainland)
      • Beijing
      • Chengdu
      • Shanghai
      • Shaanxi
      • Shenzhen
      • Xiamen
      • Yunnan
    • Singapore
    • Hong Kong
    • Malaysia
    • Taiwan
    • Thailand
    • Australia/New Zealand
  • Michelin
    • Formerly had a star
    • Michelin Recommended
    • 1 Star
    • 2 Stars
    • 3 Stars
  • Jen’s Eating Guides!
    • Boston Restaurants
    • Boston Dishes
    • Tokyo
    • Hong Kong
    • Las Vegas
    • Napa / Sonoma
    • Taiwan (night markets)
    • Taiwanese (casual eats)
    • Street Foods of Bangkok (Part I)
    • Street Foods of Bangkok (Part II)
    • Kitchen Equipment
  • Trip Reports
    • All trip reports
    • New England
    • New York
    • Washington DC
    • Las Vegas
    • California
    • Canada
    • Europe
    • Florida
    • Japan
    • China

The Art of Hand Pulled Noodles – Noodle making class in Beijing, China

May 16, 2011 by Jennifer Che 71 Comments


It’s arguably becoming a lost art.Many of you might know that I’m a bit obsessed with hand-pulled noodles.

OK, I should clarify. My husband is obsessed with eating fresh, handmade noodles. As a result, I became obsessed with figuring out how to obtain them. After an exhaustive search of Boston, we realized that hand-pulled noodles do not exist in Boston.

So I set out to learn how to make them myself. It wasn’t easy. I soon learned that the internet is sparse when it comes to information in English for making hand-pulled noodles. Sure, there’s some information, but at the end of the day, I think a lot of the information is still hidden in China.

So when I went to Beijing last fall (after having made my noodle making Project Food Blog post), you know what I had to do. I signed up for a hand-pulling noodle class with a Chinese noodle master.


First, we learned that Beijing-style hand-pulled noodles are different than the Shaanxi-style hand-pulled noodles. Shaanxi-style hand-pulled noodles make use of a base (called kansui or jiansui), which is typically a mixture of potassium carbonate and sodium carbonate. The version I had been making at home was based on this method, but used sodium bicarbonate instead (baking soda), since it was easier to obtain in US markets. Beijing noodle dough, on the other hand, is simple, consisting only of high gluten four (te jing fen), water, and salt.

What causes hand-pulled noodle dough to be flexible and stretchy?

1) an increased water to dough ratio
2) the addition of salt
3) continual kneading and twirling of the dough

Because the class was only 2 hours long, the instructor had pre-kneaded the dough for us already. (Yeah, I know, he did the hardest part!) Nevertheless, it was interesting to learn some proper techniques related to dough twisting and pulling.

The idea is to stretch out the dough like a rope, bring the two ends together while twirling, and then stretch the dough again to its original length. Check out the video below to see this in action. You do this over and over and over again until the dough reaches the right consistency. It takes a bit of experience to be able to tell when the dough is the right consistency. A proper dough will be soft, pliable, and can stretch easily without breaking.

Many things can affect the quality of the dough – humidity in the air that day, temperature, gluten percentage in your dough. He told us that on a humid summer day you may only need to twirl for about 10 minutes, whereas in the winter you may need to twirl for 15-20 minutes.

Ideally, you twirl in different directions each time: counterclockwise, then clockwise, etc.

When the dough is finally ready, then you begin pulling. For Dragon’s Whiskers, which are super, super thin, you end up pulling the dough close to ten times! That’s like 1024 noodles! The noodles become so thin, you really can’t boil them. They would fall apart if you tried. Instead, these types of super thin noodles are typically deep fried.
If you want to make noodles for boiling, typically you don’t want to stretch them more than 4-5 times!
Despite the fact that I had some experience with making noodles, I was surprised how hard it was when I tried do everything “properly.” I guess the lesson is – don’t learn bad habits! They are hard to unlearn.
Here’s a brief video I made of the class. Below, I’ve provided the recipe that they gave to us.If you want to take the class yourself, check out the offerings on their website.

If you have trouble watching the video embedded here, click here to go straight to Youtube

Disclaimer: I have not tried this recipe at home. The only recipe I have validated at home is the one from my first blog post on this topic.
Hand Pulled Noodle Dough
167g high gluten flour (te jing fen)
100g water
1 tsp salt
Combine flour, water, and salt. Knead dough until elastic (possibly up to an hour, or you can try using a stand mixer on speed 4 or a bread machine). Cover the dough with plastic and let it rest at room temperature for at least 15-20 minutes (to relax the gluten). Twist the dough for about 15-20 minutes or until it is nice and stretchy. Pull noodles.
 
This is part 14 of the China Series detailing my recent trip to Beijing, Xian, and Shanghai. 
Other posts in this series: 
part 1: Wander the Streets of Beijing
part 2: Xian’r Lao Man (handmade dumplings)
part 3: Made in China (Peking duck)
part 4: Noodle Bar (hand pulled noodles)
part 5: Bao Yuan Dumpling (handmade dumplings)
part 6: Da Dong (Peking duck)
part 7: Jia Jia Tang Bao (Soup dumplings / xiao long bao)
part 8: Yang’s Fry Dumpling (Pan fried steamed buns / shen jian bao)
part 9: Din Tai Fung (dumplings)
part 10: Eating At the World Expo
part 11: Crystal Jade (Dim Sum)
part 12: Jiu Men Xiao Chi (Nine Gates Snack Street) – the best Street Snacks in Beijing
part 13: Noodle Loft (Mian Ku)
China: Lost in Translation
Happy Birthday Bryan: an Ode to Noodles and Ducks
How to make hand-pulled noodles, la mian, shou la mian, 
©2009-2014 Tiny Urban Kitchen
All Rights Reserved

Filed Under: Beijing, China, Chinese, Chinese Recipes, Noodles, World Travel

« Oven Roasted Golden Beets
Beef Cheeks Boeuf Bourginion + Wine Giveaway! »

Recent Posts

  • Bozar Restaurant Brussels – 1 Michelin Star February 25, 2021
  • Fin de Siecle Brussels February 23, 2021
  • Happy Lunar New Year – a Different Celebration During an Unusual Year February 12, 2021
  • The Araki Hong Kong February 1, 2021
  • L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon Hong Kong January 18, 2021
  • Nostalgic Reminders of Home: Five Guys Hong Kong January 6, 2021
  • Elementary Hong Kong January 5, 2021
  • Happy New Year 2021! A Look Back at 2020 January 1, 2021

Latest Chinese recipes!

Comments

  1. Kirbie says

    May 16, 2011 at 1:29 pm

    I’ve got to try making my own hand pulled noodles at some point. It looks so hard and laborious but it is so hard finding good hand pulled noodles.

    Reply
  2. Ling says

    May 16, 2011 at 2:10 pm

    Such basic ingredients that yields such delicious springy noodles! I loved the hand pulled noodles I had in Hong Kong, earnestly seeking out the place featured in No REservations

    Reply
  3. Amanda L. says

    May 16, 2011 at 7:17 pm

     I’m always in awe when I watch hand pulled noodles! 

    Reply
  4. Kay Heritage says

    May 16, 2011 at 11:43 pm

     Growing up in Korea, we had similar noodles like this, topped with black bean sauce!  Brings back wonderful memories.  

    Reply
    • John says

      February 7, 2016 at 7:56 pm

      It’s surprising to me that many Koreans thing “jjajangmyeon” is a Korean dish.

      Reply
      • Jon says

        June 25, 2016 at 3:11 pm

        She didn’t say that. She said they had it in Korea. Big difference from saying this is a Korean dish that Koreans made and only Koreans have.

        Reply
  5. Liren says

    May 17, 2011 at 12:31 am

     Wow. He makes it look so easy. I think I lost five pounds just watching – incredible!

    Reply
  6. Suzanne says

    May 17, 2011 at 11:12 pm

     Love this!  I am so obsessed with noodles I could eat them 3 meals a day.  I’ve always wanted to learn how to make my own (besides Italian pasta which we already make) but man this doesn’t look easy! Thanks for sharing, I’ll have to try my hand at it soon…

    Reply
  7. Chinkiefoodie says

    May 19, 2011 at 4:24 am

    sure is taxing to do the noodles 😛 what type of flour is te jing fen? is it bread flour? Thanks!

    Reply
  8. Jen @ Tiny Urban Kitchen says

    May 19, 2011 at 1:50 pm

    Hi Chinkiefoodie – I am not sure what gluten level is exactly in te jing fen. I have not tested that recipe yet (since they made the dough for us in the class). The only recipe I’ve tested and validated is the one on my other blog post: https://tinyurbankitchen.com/2010/11/project-food-blog-round-7-hand-pulled.html

    Reply
  9. Zeynep says

    May 23, 2011 at 3:08 pm

    Hello Jen; you’re doing a great job at you tiny urban kitchen there. I am a fallower of yours from Turkey. We love noodles, me and my boyfriend, and try everywhere we go. Unfortunatly there are no place making noodles near good. Best thing we had is from a fast food chain (www.nunoodle.com) though its pretty good when you compare to the restaurants. I started to work out for hand pulled noodles immediately. Not the hand pulled noodles but the udon noodle is so similiar our triditional some kind of pasta called “erişte”. My grandmother and her neighbours used to cut and dry it for winter at the end of the summer and they were cook for us to eat fresh after all the work done. I love the fresh cooked better than the dried ones.
    And i would like to ask you is there any book about chinese cuisine you can suggest?

    Reply
  10. jentinyurbankitchen says

    May 23, 2011 at 9:45 pm

    Hi Zeynep,
    Thanks for your kind words! What kind of book are you looking for? Recipe books or books that have some culture as well? And what kind of Chinese cuisine? Szechuan, Taiwanese, etc? Wei Chuan has a decent series on various types of Chinese cuisine. Nina Simonds is a close family friend who has written many excellent Chinese cookbooks. Fuschia Dunlop is known for her Szechuan cookbooks.

    Hope that helps!

    Jen

    Reply
  11. zeynep says

    May 25, 2011 at 8:57 am

    Hi Jen,
    A book contains all kinds of information like; ingridients, tools, cooking ways and culture. I didn’t know that there are many kinds of chinese cuisine =) so maybe it may contain information about the subgroups of chinese cousine and recipies yes, i guess it’s too much for a book.
    Thank you
    Zeynep.

    Reply
  12. zeynep says

    May 25, 2011 at 9:58 am

    I was just checking the wei chuan i guess that’s the one for me. Thank you again.
    Zeynep.

    Reply
  13. jentinyurbankitchen says

    May 25, 2011 at 11:39 pm

    Cool! Glad I could help. Enjoy! Jen

    Reply
  14. K says

    May 29, 2011 at 4:12 pm

    Thanks for this post!  I was trying to make ramen and couldn’t cut my noodles fine enough for my taste – while looking on tips to cut them finer I came across the concept of pulling them and knew I had to do that!  You seem like a pro compared to what I can do!

    Thanks for the recipe as well.  After scouring the internet I started with the original recipe you used – with cake flour – assuming (incorrectly) the cake flour had a higher gluten content.  To me it just made sense that you would want higher gluten for stretchy noodles.  When I found out it had lower gluten I was confused – I’d also bought a bag of pure gluten but wasn’t sure what to do with it.  Your recipe has cleared that right up!

    Of course, the praise of the recipe is all in theory – I can’t claim any success yet – I think now my problems lie in my hand-kneading technique (or lack of).  I might have to break down and buy a machine….

    Still, love the article, love the advice!  I will definitely check out your other articles as well!

    Reply
  15. CHIPHANGJOSEPH says

    August 20, 2011 at 6:14 pm

    HELLO CHEF, MY NAME IS CHIPHANG JOSEPH WANTED TO LEARN. BUT WHERE     WHERE COULD I BE ABLE TO LEARN HAND PULL NOODLES IN CHINA ?

    Reply
  16. bespoke kitchens says

    August 23, 2011 at 9:22 pm

    Most people hear the words “diet” and cringe because it often involves a kind of strict routine that does not fit into their busy lifestyle. The words also bring pictures of counting calories, carbohydrates, low fat food that tastes like cardboard, rigorous training and starvation. The local bookstore carries a number of well-known as “healthy” cookbooks full of conflicting nutritional information, not to mention diet scams that prey on people today trying to find a quick solution.
     

    Reply
  17. Jen @ Tiny Urban Kitchen says

    August 24, 2011 at 10:08 am

    Hi Chipangjoseph,

    I took a class with the China Culture Center in Beijing:

    http://www.chinaculturecenter.org/cultural_learning/eventreg.php?eventid=4095

    It was super fun!

    Hope that helps.

    Jen

    Reply
  18. lamianworld says

    August 25, 2011 at 9:15 am

    great video!

    Reply
  19. Jack says

    September 4, 2011 at 8:09 pm

    Jen! What a great post!! I’m traveling around Asia this month and I would LOVE to get the name of the class you took in Beijing. I’ve been scouring the Internet for awhile now in search of a solid class and this seems to be perfect. Can you please let me know? Thanks so much for the post!!!!

    Jack

    Reply
  20. Jen @ Tiny Urban Kitchen says

    September 6, 2011 at 5:42 pm

    Hi Jack,

    Here’s the info for the class:

    http://www.chinaculturecenter.org/cultural_learning/eventreg.php?eventid=4095

    Enjoy!

    Jen

    Reply
  21. Jungleng says

    November 7, 2011 at 7:17 pm

    Hi there, so did the noodles with higher protein taste better than the ones made with the cake-flour+all-purpose-flour mix? I’m curious coz all the recipes I see on the internet written by people outside of China say to use low gluten flour, however all Chinese sources say to use high gluten flour. I would imagine high gluten flour will make chewier noodles.

    Reply
  22. jentinyurbankitchen says

    November 7, 2011 at 7:22 pm

    If only I knew the answer! We didn’t actually get to eat these noodles that we made! I do agree that conceptually it seems to make sense that high gluten flour would be make chewier noodles. Having said that, I was perfectly happy with the texture of low-gluten version that I made here:
    https://tinyurbankitchen.com/2010/11/project-food-blog-round-7-hand-pulled.html

    Reply
  23. Jungleng says

    November 9, 2011 at 8:58 pm

    lol you must have left that course feeling so hungry! anyway, thanks for answering. just one question, exactly how much twisting of the dough is required?

    Reply
  24. jentinyurbankitchen says

    November 9, 2011 at 11:48 pm

    Well, it was a noodle dumpling class so we got to eat the dumplings that we made! So we didn’t leave hungry at all. 🙂 I would twist for at least 15-20 minutes.

    Reply
  25. Candy says

    May 14, 2012 at 9:27 pm

    Jen, does high gluten flour work at all?  It is more elastic but less extensible than low gluten flour like cake flour.  

    Reply
  26. Jennifer Che says

    May 21, 2012 at 10:51 am

    Candy – that’s what the instructor said to use. I have made handmade noodles (not hand-pulled) with high gluten flour and it works well. However, I’ve never tried to pull it! I’m guessing it takes tons of strength to knead it to the point when it’s ready to be pulled!

    Reply
  27. Anonymous says

    August 8, 2012 at 10:44 pm

    I’m looking to find an apprenticeship with noodle pulling .. Please help

    Matt

    Email is hamathon@gmail.com

    Reply
  28. Anonymous says

    August 10, 2012 at 2:19 pm

    My 14-year old son is from Henan province, and learned how to make Henan-style (wide, flat) noodles from his grandmother. He has told me that it takes a “special” flour for the pulled noodles, thanks for the clarification on high-gluten flour and the blog post. By the way, he uses eggs in his noodle recipe (just flour, eggs, and water).

    Reply
  29. El says

    September 14, 2012 at 11:00 am

    Hi Jen, I’m learning to make hand pulled noodles (la mian). Your recipe is only use flour, water, and salt. Can it stretch? Because some people tell me that kansui makes it strech properly, and I read in internet that kansui is bad for health. I want to make it without kansui, but I still doubt it will stretch easily and not breaking when I stretch it. Sorry my english is bad..

    Reply
  30. JK says

    October 23, 2012 at 6:22 pm

    Do you have a recipe that includes Kansui?? I found it at teh chinese market and wanted to make it the right way. Thx, J

    Reply
  31. D says

    November 27, 2012 at 3:09 pm

    I am not sure if there is a hand pulled noodle place in Boston, but about 40 minutes outside of Boston, in Chelmsford, there is a small cafe that does have hand pulled noodles. They are delicious. Check it out. I believe the name of the cafe is Gene’s Chinese Flatbread Cafe.

    Reply
  32. Sam Tresler says

    December 27, 2012 at 11:32 pm

    Just got around to trying this new version. No luck. I found that the dough after an hour of kneading was still way to springy to pull. I ended up adding about twice that much water and finally got some stretchiness, but at about 2 hours in, I gave up and ran it through the pasta machine. I did add 1 tsp of baking soda to this recipe.

    Interestingly, I’d made a dough that my Atlas hand crank couldn’t cut. The spaghetti die just bend it into a crinkle shape, because it was too stretchy to shear.

    I haven’t tried the cake flour version yet. That might be next.

    Reply
  33. Jim Hart says

    February 3, 2013 at 10:55 am

    I’m confused by the recipes I’m finding… some call for HIGH gluten/protein BREAD flour and others call for LOW gluten/protein CAKE flour…. they are like opposite ends of the wheat flout spectrum….. Which is is? or is it just different approaches to the same end result?

    Reply
  34. Grant Cook says

    March 14, 2013 at 9:42 pm

    Echoing another poster – Gene’s Flatbread cafe does really tasty hand pulled noodles.. and lamb skewers… and lamb stew.. and supposedly the chilled noodles, only served on weekends, are great as well..

    Reply
  35. Unknown says

    May 11, 2013 at 11:39 pm

    Ok so I tried this recipe and failed. 

    I used gao jin fen (高筋粉) instead of te jin fen (特筋粉) so maybe that’s why the dough was sticky but still difficult to stretch. 

    Or maybe there wasn’t enough dough for my bread maker to knead it well enough? It seemed way too sticky when I took it out if the machine. Or maybe it was too hot in there?

    Will have to try again. Not sure where you can buy te jin fen in the states. 

    W

    Reply
    • Chris says

      February 11, 2016 at 10:46 pm

      I have had a similar problem. Te jing fen 特精粉 simply means refined or enriched flour, it does not denote a level of gluten (although they will tend to be higher compared to regular flour pu tong fen 普通粉. I tried using gao jin fen 高筋粉 11.5% gluten and I also had the same problem as you–flour was too tight despite kneading forever.

      I then tried standard 10% Gold Medal flour and I had more pullable and less elastic flour, but it was still a little too tight. I then rubbed some peng hui (sodium bicarbonate) dilhuted in water and it became more pullable, but perhaps the gluten structure was too relaxed, due to the peng hui or extra water I do not know, because the dough could not even hold it’s own shape.

      I was hoping we could learn what gluten percentage the chef in the video used.

      Reply
  36. Federico Carlini says

    May 16, 2013 at 10:16 am

    Thanks, i’m studying it!

    Reply
  37. TJ Phoenix says

    November 13, 2014 at 8:46 pm

    Thank you for this page. I recently discovered hand pulled noodles at this amazing hole-in-the-wall :Du Ku Bee” in Beaverton, Or where I live. It was such an amazing experience. I went back three times, with my whole family in the first week. Now, we have modest means. So eating out is a rare treat. So I went looking for some recipes, to start the journey at home. So happy to find your page and though I am only beginning this new adventure I wanted to say thank you!

    Reply
    • Jennifer Che says

      November 14, 2014 at 9:12 am

      You’re welcome!

      Reply
  38. GGK says

    March 21, 2015 at 4:40 pm

    Hi Ms. Jennifer Che,
    I chose your “The Art of Hand Pulled Noodles – Noodle making class in Beijing, China, May 16, 2011 by Jennifer Che” because your entry is most interesting and more Chinese than most I have read on the internet.
    First, your video that you embedded in your blog and your YouTube version has some unknown problem. Both versions don’t work completely and causes my computer to crash. I am unable to watch your video demonstration, which is sad because I really want to watch it.
    Regarding your recipes on “Hand Pulled Noodles Dough”,
    1. You mentioned “167g high gluten flour (te jing fen)”, what is high gluten flour? What kind of flour is that?

    Reply
    • Jennifer Che says

      March 22, 2015 at 11:17 pm

      I am sorry you are having trouble watching the video. I don’t really know what is wrong and unfortunately I don’t have the technical expertise to help you. The video runs OK on my computer, so I’m not sure why it doesn’t work on yours. As for high gluten flour, I think different countries label it differently. In the U.S., it’s sometimes called bread flour.

      Reply
  39. GGK says

    March 21, 2015 at 4:45 pm

    Hi Ms. Che,

    In your page here, you mentioned Ohio as your birth state. What kind of gluten flour do you used at home in Ohio?

    Reply
    • Jennifer Che says

      March 22, 2015 at 11:16 pm

      I have not tried making the high gluten flour recipe detailed in the video at home in Ohio before. I only made it in the class in China. In the U.S. I have only tried making the noodles using cake flour like in this post:

      https://tinyurbankitchen.com/project-food-blog-round-7-hand-pulled/

      Reply
  40. GGK says

    March 31, 2015 at 12:57 am

    Ms. Che,
    I was able to see the video you posted here.
    You mentioned that at home you tried making the noodle using “cake flour”. May I ask where you able to make the noodles using cake flour? I think there is a store from where I live that has high-gluten flour. Question: Is there a special type of high-gluten flour, or I could just buy the high-gluten flour as is? Thanks.

    Reply
    • Jennifer Che says

      March 31, 2015 at 3:16 pm

      Cake flour is actually a low gluten flour. In China I think they use high-gluten flour, but they add some kansui or other type of basic ingredient to help soften the dough. I personally plan on doing some experiments soon to find the best recipe for making these noodles. Then I hope to have a better answer for you!

      Reply
  41. Michael says

    August 5, 2015 at 10:45 pm

    Are the quantities mentioned enough to do the pulling.
    It looks far too small.

    Love the info thanks.

    Reply
  42. cindy :D says

    August 24, 2015 at 12:07 pm

    thank you so much for making this post i have been trying to find someone that knows how to do this. i really wanted to meet someone that new how to do it but it is rare to find someone in the usa that knows how to do this. now i can try and do this myself! thank you so much! i hope it works out for me.

    Reply
  43. Chris says

    February 5, 2016 at 9:52 am

    Can you give the chinese characters for te jing fen? That way I can google and/or ask my friends and I can find out the gluten content of that flour. I know Chinese “high gluten” is a different percentage than “high gluten” elsewhere in the world

    Reply
  44. Chris says

    February 5, 2016 at 12:26 pm

    Besides twisting and pulling, how did they teach you to knead the dough? I have tried kneading 9% gluten flour and water and after an hour of kneading the dough became so tight and could not be stretched at all.

    I was kneading the Western cuisine style with one hand stretching and rolling back the dough while the other hand holds the dough in place.

    Reply
  45. Chris says

    February 11, 2016 at 10:48 pm

    Sorry for all the questions again, but I am obsessed to learn just as you were.

    What I would really like to know is what percentage protein flour did the chef use? Because te jing fen just means “refined flour”, and does not denote a gluten percentage.

    Reply
  46. Ale says

    November 8, 2016 at 9:39 am

    Thanks so much for such lovely post!!

    I’ve been very very lucky living in Melbourne, Australia; it wasn’t too hard to find delicious hand made noodles and dumplings.

    I was now googling “Lanzhou style noodles”, confused about their good levels of protein (in spite of being simply made of wheat flour, water and salt) and landed here.

    Not exactly what I was after but most definitely very inspiring content! 🙂

    Thanks again!! 🙂

    Reply
  47. Patrick says

    March 30, 2017 at 1:41 pm

    MDM Noodles in Brighton have amazing hand pulled noodles!

    Reply
  48. Joe says

    June 8, 2017 at 6:50 am

    I really want to try making noodles myself. When you talk about high gluten flour, do you mean hard wheat flour, soft wheat flour or something completely different?

    Reply
    • Jennifer Che says

      June 8, 2017 at 7:09 am

      I’m not sure what hard or soft wheat means, but it means that the flour contains more gluten content. In the US bread flour typically has more gluten, though I’ve never actually tried it with bread flour.

      Reply
  49. Miqhael chan says

    August 26, 2017 at 12:14 am

    My friend said to make hand pulled noodles needs some additional things. Like Alkali powder and soda pottasium. And again it needs calcium hydroxide
    To make it like a gel.

    I really confused to found the “Key” for handpulled noodles

    Reply
  50. Miqhael chan says

    August 26, 2017 at 12:17 am

    I’ve try to make it from High protein Flour and low protein flour then i using regular salt and water.
    But it just fail.
    So i think the key is additional thing that no one want to give the info out.

    Reply
  51. Nathan says

    July 23, 2018 at 3:43 am

    Hi Jen, is the ratio of the Flour and Water is correct? Water 100 grams or ml? pls advice Thx – Nathan

    Reply
    • Jennifer Che says

      July 25, 2018 at 11:32 am

      Both are OK. 100mL of water weighs about 100g.
      Jen

      Reply
      • Eugene says

        September 26, 2018 at 1:52 pm

        Hi Jen,

        Thanks for putting this info up!!! I’ve been fooling around w la mien for years and have never gotten it to pull its initial arms length. But I’m dogged, I’ll get it.

        I’ve tried your cake flour, bread flour and AP versions… Oiled it, beat it for hours, rested from minutes to over night… No dice.

        Any advice would be much appreciated!

        Reply
  52. Julien says

    September 18, 2018 at 4:39 pm

    Hello Jennifer,
    We are learning to make hand pulled noodles and we discovered your blog. Do you still make these noodles often? We’ve tried 5 times following exactly the same steps as yours with no succes. When we twirl the dough, it can’t go as long as yours. We can’t figure out when the dough is ready to be pulled. Does the dough need to be wetter? Do you have any tips about the dough?
    Thanks very much in advance for your reply.

    Reply
  53. Ronald Seto says

    December 2, 2018 at 7:50 pm

    Is Pizza dough similar to the dough for hand pulled noodles? It seems that pizza dough is stretchy when tossing it in the air.

    Reply
  54. Pappu Damai says

    May 11, 2019 at 12:48 am

    I want to learn how to make hand pulled noodle. When will be next master class.

    Reply
  55. Nb says

    January 15, 2021 at 5:46 pm

    Cake flour substitute works well or not if have no cake flour or what do u recommend? Ty lmk

    Reply
    • Jennifer Che says

      January 17, 2021 at 2:41 am

      Try any sort of lower gluten flour. Thanks!

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Lanzhou Beef Noodle Soup - Ang Sarap says:
    August 5, 2016 at 3:00 am

    […] Lanzhou Beef Lamian is a type of a very spicy soup of sliced beef, radish, red chili oil and chewy hand-pulled wheat noodles. A dish that originated in Lanzhou, China this where it is known for the springy texture of the […]

    Reply
  2. This is how hand pulled noodles are made - Top On Day says:
    February 3, 2017 at 4:38 am

    […] ends together while twirling, and then stretch the dough again to its original length, says Jen on her blog describing how she went all the way to Beijing to learn how to make […]

    Reply
  3. Madrid Poster Art 2009 – eWallpapers says:
    September 16, 2017 at 1:25 am

    […] The Art of Hand Pulled Noodles (Beijing, China) – It’s arguably becoming a lost art.Many of you might know that I’m a bit obsessed with hand-pulled noodles. OK, I should clarify. My husband is obsessed with. […]

    Reply
  4. Cooking | Chinese Inspired Hand-Pulled Noodles w/ Beef & Broccoli - Patchryan.com says:
    September 29, 2018 at 1:07 pm

    […] The art of hand pulled noodles […]

    Reply
  5. Shiwei Knife Shaved Noodles Hong Kong - Tiny Urban Kitchen says:
    December 3, 2018 at 12:00 pm

    […] pulling noodles, or “la mian” 拉麵 is difficult to master (trust me, I’ve tried taking classes in Beijing and even attempted it myself at home). Those who can do it make it look simple, but it’s […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Welcome to Tiny Urban Kitchen!

JenChe

Hi, my name's Jen and welcome to my cooking, eating, and travel site! I am a Boston to Hong Kong transplant, born and raised in Ohio with parents from Taiwan. Feel free to head on over to the About page if you want to learn more about me, or just explore away, maybe starting with the Recipe Index or one of the travel pages! I hope you enjoy this site!
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Archives

Categories

Awards

Saveur
PFB

BostonGlobe

Most Recent Posts

Bozar Brussels

Bozar Restaurant Brussels – 1 Michelin Star

Fin de Siecle Brussels

Fin de Siecle Brussels

Happy Lunar New Year – a Different Celebration During an Unusual Year

The Araki Hong Kong

The Araki Hong Kong

L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon Hong Kong

L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon Hong Kong

Five Guys Hong  Kong

Nostalgic Reminders of Home: Five Guys Hong Kong

Elementary HK

Elementary Hong Kong

Happy New Year 2021! A Look Back at 2020

Restaurant Le George Paris

Restaurant Le George Paris

Great Yakiniku and Fine Wine

Nice Yakiniku and Fine Wine Hong Kong

France!

Yam'Tcha Paris
David Toutain Paris
Divellec Paris
Breizh Cafe Paris
Clamato Paris

Kawaii! (Cute)

Norway!

Food Advertising by logo

Chinese Recipes

Okra with Chicken
Food Advertising by logo

Shop & Support us!

Spain!

Girona Spain
Amelia San Sebastian

Japan!

Bulgari Il Ristorante Luca Fantin
Sukiyaki Imafuku Tokyo
Sushi Ishimaya Tokyo
Disney Sea Tokyo
Tempura Fukamachi Tokyo
Shinjuku Gyoen

Cambridge restaurants

Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2021 · Foodie Pro Theme by Shay Bocks · Built on the Genesis Framework · Powered by WordPress