During a recent Live Asian Kitchen broadcast on Twitch, I decided to experiment with a couple of different variations of homemade egg noodle recipes and techniques. I made 2 batches of dough –
- one using my regular Hakka pan mee recipe (ratio of 1 egg : 1 kg plain flour), kneaded in a machine mixer
- one using 4 eggs : 500g plain flour, kneaded by hand (recipe below)
I also played around with natural plant colouring in powder form which I had received courtesy of My Blue Tea – I used blue pea flower powder, roselle powder and pandan powder.
Another point of difference was that I rolled the dough sheets 2-3 times per pasta maker setting (from wide to narrow) – in other words, I worked the dough much more than what I had done in the past.
I produced noodles in different shapes – some were wide-cut per in the pictures shown here, some were thin like wonton noodles, and some were cylindrical à la Hokkien mee.
Finally, I pulled (ie. stretched) the noodles strand by strand before throwing them in the pot of boiling water.
These are some of my observations –
- the noodles turned out much more “bouncy” (you’ll get this if you’re Chinese) thanks to the extra rolling
- they held their form well even after sitting in the fridge for days, and being reheated/re-blanched (it took baby Noah and me a whole week to finish them)
- the pandan and roselle colours did not really show through, so I’ll have to use more of the respective powders in future batches
- the blue pea flower powder turned the noodles white and looking virtually like rice noodles (per in the pictures) – I had used it in the 1-egg batch of dough.
Homemade Egg Noodles II
INGREDIENTS:
500g plain flour
4 eggs
½ tsp salt
100ml water
METHOD:
- Place flour on work surface, make a well in the middle and add eggs and salt.
- Gradually mix in the flour, then add enough water to turn into a pliable dough.
- Cover and allow to rest for 20 minutes.
- Knead a further 10 minutes, then cut into portions.
- Set the pasta maker on the widest setting, roll dough 2-3 times, then change to a narrower setting. Roll the noodle dough another 2-3 times, then repeat for each setting until it’s down to the thickness you want for your noodles.
- Cut into strips.
- Bring water to a boil in a pot, pull each strand of noodle to stretch it, then cook until done; usually when it floats to the surface.
- Remove and transfer into basin of cold water. Drain, then use immediately; otherwise, toss generously in oil, then store in refrigerator for up to a week.
- Blanch noodles briefly in some hot water to rinse off the excess oil before use.
