Hand Pulled Noodles: A Foolproof Method for STRETCHY Dough

It took me years to finally discover the secret to hand pulled noodles. This is my foolproof dough recipe, now we can finally start practicing and become noodle masters!

► Credits to Will Lee for his amazing noodle pulling footage

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► Hand Pulled Noodles - Dough Recipe 🍜

500g wheat flour, ideally high gluten (I used12%)
5g salt
250g water (tap water in Berlin is slightly higher in pH)

rest overnight

optional:
3.5g lye water (kansui), OR
1tsp baked baking soda (🇩🇪=Natron, gebacken), dissolved in a teaspoon of water OR
1tsp potash, dissolved in a teaspoon of water

► MY NAME IS ANDONG
Food is so powerful in bringing cultures together - something I learned when I lived in China. So let's travel, eat, cook, and learn from each other! I am a filmmaker from Berlin, Germany and make weekly videos about cooking and food culture.

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[ChineseCookingDemystified]

Oh, you beat us and made the very first video of hand pulled noodles in English! I’m jealous, lol. Just kidding. Awesome job and congrats! I also kinda got to the stretchy dough stage but then pulling them into fine noodles is another level of difficulty... let’s both practice very very hard on it ~~~~
- this is Steph btw

[ROOSON]

I keep rewatching this video for certain parts so here's a timeline for my own benefit at least:-
0:00 - intro
0:52 - gluten content walk and talk
3:01 - what we add to the flour
3:26 - punghuei
4:25 - punghuei alternatives
4:57 - salt
5:50 - technique
6:53 - do nothing
7:52 - andong makes noodles
8:44 - kansui difference
9:25 - andong pulls noodles
9:45 - wrap up

[dashengshao]

Can't believe I am learning Chinese cooking from a German, LOL

[moritzmuller]

If this doesn't work for you, consider the following tips:

1. Get it wet (enough)!
While you definetly want a dry dough to do this, you need to avoid unhydrated lumps of flour in your dough, because these tend to break during your folding process. If 50% hydration is not enough for your flour, feel free to add water in small portions until there are no more dry spots.

2. Oil it!
A sticky dough makes the folding part pretty hard, since you can't let go of the ends of the strand you are holding but using flour, to avoid sticking, messes with the consistency of the dough, so use oil instead.

3. Turn up the heat!
A warm environment will help with the gluten development during autolyse und also with the elasticity of the dough while pulling. Cold dough is extremly tense. I tried this in a 16°C (60°F) kitchen an failed miserably, while Andong did it during the hottest summer in Berlin since record and amazed us all with his folding and pulling skillz.

4. Slap dat Dough!
I found that slapping the dough on your worksurface somehow seems to relax the Gluten. I tried to pull und fold the dough without slapping it and after the third fold it got so tense i had problems pulling it again without it tearing. I would suggest to slap the dough strand on the table like a whip (multiple times if necessary), using its centrifugal force to stretch it, and then folding it over like the noodle guy at 6:41 . Doing it this way also helps in devloping an even dough because you can fold thicker parts of the strand over thinner ones.

Have fun with your own handpulled noodles and stay awesome.

[iaoys]

Most underrated channel ever! Where is everyone?! Give this man a PhD in Chinese Food! Combining the best of the west and the east. Inspiring!

[dro]

Dude! I have tried to figure out the 'secret' for years. I read a 100 page thesis on how ph levels affect gluten, hundreds of articles and hours upon hours of videos. To think, I could have let my dough rest during some of that research and I would have stumbled upon this! 😅 Thank you for sharing this.

[michaeljeanrichard]

Another thing that will help you incredibly (and also stop you from having to wait overnight to pull the noodles😂) is instead of using lukewarm or cold water to mix into the flour, use warmer water, just turn the tap on hot and pretty much if it's hot to the touch but not scalding, that's good. The warm water will help to partially loosen up the gluten, leading to INCREDIBLE elasticity with the dough, I use the warm water, then I only knead it a little and let it sit for 30 minutes, put some oil in a bowl, only enough to make sure the dough is coated, then leave it for an hour in a warm environment, and you would not believe how quick and easy it is

[tingyuji]

I am a Chinese and never seen a Chinese can explain this so clear and concise like this video, big thumb up!

[mikulastoman]

Your work... Man, your work! I'm feeling like watching Alex the french guy while watching you do your thing. The way you think about food, the way you dig deeper and deeper until you find the right way... Please keep up the great work!

[trigostarden]

you made it nice, i don't care what people said but i searched and finally get simplified method and explanations. thanks danke schoene, yeahh learning to do lamian form a german perfect world.

[JJsheep]

I really like your scientific (also very German :D) approach in how to dissect the effects of each ingredient and come up with the easiest solution in the end ✌️

[selenuntius]

I'm a server at a chinese noodle restaurant - I know nothing about the process but they seem to slap the dough against the countertops when they pull it. Deafening bangs from the kitchen whenever anyone orders noodles :)

[OliverBurkill]

I had been waiting for this video, I knew you would find a workable method. I'm making some dough right now.

[Raoena]

Guys, remember that every flour has a different hydration level coming out of the package, and that the more protein, the more water it will need to absorb for the protein to get stretchy. I think a lot of the people who are having trouble had thirsty flour and needed to add a little more water to hydrate it properly. Look at the texture of his dough when he puts it for the autolyse and after it comes out. If your dough is more dry, add more water! The dough should be moist enough that it's a little tacky/sticky. Gluten can't develop without that proper hydration.

[harshgandhi]

Your chinese cooking videos are really a threat for chinese restaurants😝. Thank you. It was so educational and yet so interesting and entertaining.

[DShin]

I don't think I've EVER left a Youtube comment but this video warrants some major props. You made this a great educational experience, your enthusiasm is infectious, and I love the level of commitment you've put in to this video. Thank you very much!

[zia]

as a scientist myself, I seriously enjoy watching you digging into the scientific literatures... now you're officially one of my fav youtubers!

[midwestside]

Just wanted to say I had the most satisfying stir fried 'hand pulled' noodle dish tonight at home :) I found working a double, heavier batch does wonders for the pre stretch routine (and a great workout). When you cut it down to sections, I get those effortless pulls! Thin ones, broad ones, flat ones.. doesn't matter! any kind! Thanks Andong, for keeping the dream alive!!

[tugloo]

Alright YouTube recommendation algorithm. You win. This video is perfect.

[IbrahimMohammed-ddxf]

Andong, you have no clue how many times I watched this video, this is literally the most exciting thing a home cook can watch. Not just that, it was also presented in the most genius way ever.
Sending you all the love from Egypt.