Howdy,

I have been trying to get an authentic recipe for lai mein
(hand pulled) noodles.

Whatever I find, (and there are many sources out there) is
in conflict with everything else.

I have had that experience before and it tells me that the
authors of these many recipes are just "guessing." They
require high-protein flour, or low; they need salt, or none;
they want baking soda, or baking powder, or neither...

Despite that, I've tried 'em all but to no avail.

And so this request:

Might you know of a lai mein noodle dough recipe that
actually works? Have you tried it?

I certainly do not expect to become some sort of "noodle
master" but I know that I cannot even get started on
learning the technique without having the proper dough.

I would welcome any thoughts on this, and thank you in
advance.

All the best,
--
Kenneth

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Kenneth wrote:
Howdy,

I have been trying to get an authentic recipe for lai mein
(hand pulled) noodles.
....

Might you know of a lai mein noodle dough recipe that
actually works?

Part if the secret is lye water, which is needed to get the proper
elasticity, and the other part is technique, which only comes with a
lot of practice. I make no claim as to the latter!

Here's a recipe from a favorite food blog I visit often:

http://lilyng2000.blogspot.com/2005/...kkien-mee.html

They're cut, rather than pulled, but I think the recipe will work.

mike

http://smsfr.blogspot.com

Hello, Steve!
You wrote on Wed, 3 Jan 2007 10:00:41 -0600:

?? Howdy,
??
?? I have been trying to get an authentic recipe for lai mein
?? (hand pulled) noodles.

SW The subject came up in alt.food.asian a couple years ago
SW and we pretty much came to the same conclusion: Nobody
knows how to
SW do it and web isn't very much help on this subject.

I've seen it done by a cook who came out of the kitchen and
pulled noodles in the middle of a vietnamese restaurant. It was
rather a virtuoso performance and rightly got a round of
applause. I would not attempt it myself unless I could take a
bath afterwards and didn't really want the noodles :-)

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

E-mail, with obvious alterations:
not.jim.silverton.at.comcast.not

On 3 Jan 2007 09:28:44 -0800, "ke8yy"
wrote:


Kenneth wrote:
Howdy,

I have been trying to get an authentic recipe for lai mein
(hand pulled) noodles.
...

Might you know of a lai mein noodle dough recipe that
actually works?

Part if the secret is lye water, which is needed to get the proper
elasticity, and the other part is technique, which only comes with a
lot of practice. I make no claim as to the latter!

Here's a recipe from a favorite food blog I visit often:

http://lilyng2000.blogspot.com/2005/...kkien-mee.html

They're cut, rather than pulled, but I think the recipe will work.

mike

http://smsfr.blogspot.com

Hi Mike (and others),

I am making some progress on the pulled noodles, but it is
not at all in the direction that I expected...

Before I detail my experiences, I would ask if you have
tried the cut noodle recipe as a dough for pulled noodles.

I ask because it would appear from my experiments (and from
my reading) that the addition of "lye water" (actually a
solution of potassium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate) to
the wheat dough has the opposite of the intended effect.

Rather than "relaxing" the gluten to allow for the stretch,
it radically "tightens" the gluten all but preventing any
stretch.

It is the lye water that gives the cooked (cut) noodles a
"rubbery" or "bouncy" texture. In fact, after allowing the
dough to rest, it behaves almost like latex. If I pinch a
piece and pull, the remainder forms a "film" that is
incredibly thin. When I first saw that, I thought that I was
headed for success, but with any attempt to stretch further,
the dough tears, and each end "snaps" back toward its
original shape.

I tried the addition of lye water in four proportions. I
also used it with three wheat flours of different protein
levels. The results were always the same.

So, I continue my quest, and would certainly welcome any
further suggestions.

Sincere thanks as before,
--
Kenneth

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