Ader1

Why are they using Peng hui in the Noodle School? They would surely teach them the proper way as schools usually do before they then used Peng Hui in order to cut corners. That's usually how education works. The fact is, they all use Peng Hui or something similar. I was taught how to hand pull noodles when I was in China a few years ago now. And I was told by the La Mian chef that you needed Peng hui if you were doing it commercially. Otherwise, you would be spending a long time kneading and pulling a small amount which would be white in colour and would disintegrate in boiling water. There may be substitutes out there. I brought some back to the UK with me and I sent it to my local authority who in turn sent it off to some central UK lab to analyse it's constituents. It came back has having some ingredient which wasn't allowed under EU regulations to be used in food for human consumption. I hve the report on my computer somewhere. I have seen a La Mian chef on UK tv and the dough he has worked with obviously has some agent which relaxes it. It looks different and it behaves differently. I have been in touch with a couple of La Mian restaurants in other countries and they too were using Peng Hui imported from China. Baking soda I believe has some of the qualities and I think it will make the dough stronger and not disintegrate in boiling water but I'm not sure. I think it may also make it more yellow in colour. But it has nowhere near the effect that Peng Hui has on dough. I don't care what you claim your local La Mian chef does. Because what you claim is nonsense.

Maybe he's keeping it secret. So why should the students at the Noodle School be using it? And it's obvious that you don't know the nature/texture of dough for you to say that.

You wouldn't be able to do that at a commercial level. Furthermore, without adding something like peng hui, the thin noodles would disintegrate in the boiling water. And lastly, the noodles wouldn't have the yellowish colour which La mian is famed for.

That isn't a good enough substitute as it doesn't really relax the dough to the same degree as peng hui . You can see the dough those guys are using in the Noodle school......if you held it in your hand just prior to when they make noodles out of it, it would almost 'flow' like lava. That's the best way for me to describe it. Baking soda etc won't do that.

So what's used instead of it?

Any suggestions of books for Indian pickles?

I haven't been on here for a couple of years. It's the same secret which most seem to overlook which is the Peng Wei ingredient which they release from the plastic bottles present on the tables. It relaxes the dough and makes it more stretchable. I enquired if it could be imported into Europe but there was one or two ingredients in it which weren't allowed. I wonder how the La Mian eateries in say London use Peng Wei or have they managed to find a substitute?

I live in the UK. I am not a professional chef. I'm looking for a range cooker possibly dual fuel; electricity and gas. What I've very keen on having is something with a gas hob which will enable me to do some wok stir frying. I've been suggested a Rangemaster and Lacanche. The Lacanche seems a little too expensive but I'm told it's the better range. There do seem to be some second hand models around but then there's the problem of a lack of warranty. The Rangemasters are very nice looking but have been told that they're not that good but not bad either and come at a fraction of the price of a Lacanche. I would be very thankful for some advice on what to get. I suppose I would preferably like the cost to be kept to below £1500. Thanks.

No chilli oil? I had this once when eating jiaozi and it was divine. I've tried to re-create it at home but not quite there yet.

liuzhou, In that pic you posted of all those hand-made jiaozi there is a dipping sauce. Do you know what's in it or how to make it?

So basically, you're looking for the recipe for a hot-pot?

Thanks. If you can ever find out what they use as a dough relaxer, I would be over the moon. Mind you, the US isn't subject to EU law so Peng Hui might not be restricted there....

I bought mine from the Royal Horticultural Society I think it was and they said that I didn't need a male and female.

But you know liuzhou, Europe is not China. There isn't a plentiful supply of cheap labour or the lady I posted abour above would have made use of it. She had to buy some kind of machine. I have seen one machine but is manually powered but I'm not sure how good it is. When I get a chance I'll post a link.

I've tried Sichuan Peppercorn Ice-cream and it was fantastic. I ate it when in Chengdu at the Chef Wu's Family kitchen restaurant. Look it up. What an experience! Another dish I use it in is Da Pan Ji. I'm not sure if they would be put in the dish where it originates from but it was in the one I had in Chengdu and it was delicious. I've got one of these trees. I've had it a couple of years now and I've collected seeds from it which I tried to germinate. I had no luck at all. I've also taken cuttings with the same lack of results. I've tried putting them in the fridge and scarifying them but nothing. And the results were the same with the seeds I bought in China. Any ideas?

If you look at the following link, this lady who started the Chop-chop.co.uk restaurant in Scotland says she bought a 'dumpling machine' from China. I've seen some on the web which are monsters designed for factory production. Any idea what she's talking about? http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/57a081ac#/57a081ac/66 I did send her a message but I didn't get a reply...... :-(

Thank you for those suggestions.

I'm interested in opening a noodle restaurant but I think that noodle chefs are difficult to come across in the UK. Making matters more difficult is the fact that I don't live in London or where there are large numbers of Chinese people. There are plenty to be had in China but work visas for chefs are very difficult to come by now and I would imagine will become even more so. Any ideas on how I can work around this? And no.....the chef wouldn't have to be a La Mian master.

Thank you for posting that video. If you look at it the talk about alkalinity of the water to make the noodles. I didn't understand it but it was obvious from their use of a ph scale. And then at around 5.51 minutes you can see they guy with the packet of Peng Hui powder which he mixes with water and massages it into the dough. But Ken Hom is wrong, it doesn't allow the dough to become elastic but the opposite; it just stretches.

Anybody found a good supplier of gochugaru (chilli flakes) in the UK?

Whatever they do add from my understanding and believe me I've tried and read a lot about it.......the added chemical needs to be alkaline which adds and al-dente texture to the noodles and also gives it a yellowish colour. Japanese ramen have this colour and quality and also need alkalinity in their production from what I understand. I read somewhere that 'ramen' comes from 'la mian'. Is this true? I believe it (the alkalinithy) also stops the thin noodles from disintegrating in boiling water. The second important quality is for it to be able to relax the dough. I will pick up the quest again at some point.

As me dcarch? There are guys in China who make scores if not hundreds of hand made noodle dishes a day. It's not feasible to do it without a kind of 'conditioner' or 'relaxer'. I watched a guy make hand pulled noodles withought using this agent called Peng Hui. He took a long time to be able to get the dought to the required consistency and I'm telling you he was a master and one time chef if the Chinese military. I saw him twisting dought which must have been enough to make 30 or 40 dishes and like a lare python in length and thickness. That's how good he was. I have him on video somewhere on my HDD. He said, that if you don't use Peng Hui or similar, the noodles would disintigrate in boiling water. He also said that if they have La Mian restaurants in the UK, then they have Peng Hui. So, they are either importing it, or using a substitute. And it was obvious from that dough that it had been 'treated' somehow. I watched a programme once with a London La Mian chef on a tv show making a competition amongst tv chefs I think. The wonderful Ching He Huang won. But to the point, the dough was almost like heated chewing gum if you know what I mean. It almost 'flows'. There is no elasticity. When in China, I was tempted to go and do this couple of hours course in Beijing on noodle pulling to see how they were doing it. I telephoned them and asked what did they use.....high gluten flour, salt and water was the reply. Oh good I said, it will be interesting to prepare the dough I mentioned. Oh no......I was told that we wouln't be preparing the dough but the La Mian master would be doing this at his home before-hand. Needless, to say, I didn't bother attending that course.

I watched that and the dough he took out of the bowl had already been worked. It was stretchy and sticky. I don't think they are telling the whole story. He just said the dough is made of flour, salt and water. I know that in China the noodle masters also add an alkaline substance which makes it more stretchy and less elastic. I believe they use the same in the UK too. I brought some of this alkaline with me back to the UK when I returned from China because I wanted to get hold of some and maybe import it. But there's a substance in there which isn't allowed for consumption under EU law. So that was the end of that. What I'd like to know is what was that dish in the middle of the table containing a yellow substance? Although the compound used in China is greenish in colour and added in very small quantities.

I've been looking at the web site above Maangchi.com. Really interesting. She uses Napa cabbage. I haven't seen it around here in the UK. What could I use in it's place? Any ideas?

Thanks for your replies. I'll try that Dunlop one. The sauce I had in Chengdu was actually in a La Mian noodle place. The dumplings weren't on the menu but a treat that the owner wanted be to share with them. He was from Lanzhou originally. This is the sauce I have tried making: Chili Oil Sauce1/4 cup soy sauce 2 tablespoons Chinkiang black vinegar (鎮江香醋) 2 tablespoons Sichuan spicy chili oil (四川辣油) 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil 1 teaspoon sugar 1 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorn powder (花椒粉) 1 teaspoon minced garlicI just copied and pasted that from: http://redcook.net/2011/04/30/be-adventurous-with-wonton/#respond