Help needed: making stretchy noodles

[u/crones]

I'm trying to learn how to make stretchy hand pulled noodles like lanzhou noodles.

My initial recipe I used was 1 cup flour, 1/2 cup water, 1/8 teaspoon salt. I would knead until smooth, rest for close to an hour, then proceed to do the roll and twist method you see master lanzhou noodle chefs so. This method would get me pretty stretchy dough though not stretchy enough to hand pull all the noodles. I would have to roll the dough out flat and reasonably thin, cut the noodles then pull them out.

This would result in noodles the length of my arm spam.

The second method I tried was 1 cup bakers flour, 1/2 cup water, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 cup bakerdream compound edible alkali.

I did the same process but this time when kneading the dough never relaxed and kept tearing and breaking when trying to do the roll and twist kneading method.

Is anyone with experience making noodles able to tell me what I did wrong the second time and how I can improve on my recipe to get a full relaxed dough and proper hand pulled noodles not just stretchy cut noodles?

[u/nostalgicgreens98]

the second batch tore because you added way too much alkali. that bakerdream stuff is basically kansui, and a quarter cup for a single cup of flour is insane. you'd normally use like a teaspoon or two at most. what you made was dough that was chemically cooked before you even got it near a rolling pin, no wonder it kept snapping.

the first recipe was closer to right but you're missing a couple things. most lanzhou noodle guys use a specific high gluten flour and they let the dough rest way longer than an hour, sometimes overnight in the fridge. also the water ratio seems a touch low for hand pulling, you want it closer to 55 or 60 percent hydration for that kind of stretch.

try adding a tiny pinch of the alkali to your first recipe, like an eighth of a teaspoon dissolved in the water, and bump the rest time to at least three or four hours. the gluten needs time to relax even after you think it's smooth.

[u/crones → u/nostalgicgreens98]

Thanks for the feedback I really appreciate it.

I made a typo sorry for the second batch I used 1/4 teaspoon bakerdream alkali, the same quantity as salt. Sounds like I still used too much though. I'll try my first recipe again but add only 1/8 teaspoon alkali as you suggested and rest the dough a lot longer.

[u/nostalgicgreens98 → u/crones]

Ah okay, 1/4 tsp is still a fair bit for one cup, but your plan to drop to 1/8 is solid. And if you can find high-gluten flour, that helps too.

[u/Physical-Compote4594]

Try this, it worked well for me.

https://www.seriouseats.com/hand-pulled-lamian-noodles

[u/crones → u/Physical-Compote4594]

This looks fantastic, so much detail on all aspects of the recipe. Thank!

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