Lanzhou Beef Noodles
Lanzhou's morning glory: a crystal-clear beef broth, radish, chile oil, cilantro, and hand-pulled noodles stretched to order, in the style protected as a craft all its own.
The whole recipe in 60 seconds
Lanzhou Beef Noodles, in 5 ideas
- The broth must be clear as tea over deep beef flavor. Skim early, simmer gently, and never let it boil into cloudiness.
- Hand-pulled noodles rely on an alkaline touch and a rested, supple dough. The stretch comes from gluten relaxation, not force.
- One broth, five colors is the Lanzhou creed. Clear soup, white radish, red chile oil, green cilantro, yellow noodles.
- Chile oil is made fresh and mild as much as hot. Its job is perfume and color over the clear broth.
- The noodles cook in under a minute and go straight to the bowl. A pulled noodle waits for no one, ever.
What you need
Ingredients
- 2 lb beef shank or brisket
- 1 lb beef bones
- 1 onion, halved
- 4 slices ginger
- 2 tsp Sichuan peppercorns
- 1 daikon radish, sliced in half-moons
- 4 cups bread flour
- 1 tsp fine sea salt
- 1 tsp peng hui (alkaline ash) or kansui, or 1/2 tsp baked baking soda
- 1 1/2 cups water
- Chile oil, cilantro and green onions, to serve
How to make it
Method
Simmer the beef and bones in water for 10 minutes, drain, and rinse. Return to clean water with the onion, ginger and peppercorns and simmer gently for 2 hours, skimming, until the broth is clear and rich. Lift out the beef to slice later; season the broth with salt.
Cook the radish slices in the broth until translucent and tender. Keep warm.
Mix the flour, salt and peng hui with the water into a rough dough. Knead 15 minutes, until smooth and elastic, then rest under a damp cloth for 1 hour, kneading briefly every 20 minutes.
Divide the dough into ropes. Oil your hands, stretch a rope out, fold and stretch again, working it into long, even noodles. Confidence comes with the third rope.
Boil the noodles in a large pot of water for 45 to 60 seconds only. Drain straight into warm bowls.
Ladle the clear broth over, add radish and slices of the beef, and finish with chile oil, cilantro and green onions in the five colors.
Eat immediately, loudly, with extra chile oil on the table.
If pulling defeats you on day one, roll the rested dough thin and cut it into ribbons: the broth carries the dish while your hands learn.