Noodle School

[liuzhou]

The School in China That Teaches Students How To Hand-Pull Noodles

 

 

[Toliver]

I thought it was interesting that they didn't have extra flour on the tables when pulling noodles. It was as if when they got to the point of pulling the noodles, the time to add flour was past. 

Thank you for posting this video. 

[Ader1]

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?

[rustwood]

Perhaps there is more than one spelling/translation, but I think you may be referring to penghui.  It is an alkali substance for which there are substitutes (see here for one).  It can also be omitted.  In some regions noodles are traditionally made without out it.   There is a very good article about this here.

[liuzhou]

Yes. It is  蓬灰  péng huī and it is not universally used.

[Ader1]

12 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

Yes. It is  蓬灰  péng huī and it is not universally used.

So what's used instead of it?

[Ader1]

49 minutes ago, rustwood said:

Perhaps there is more than one spelling/translation, but I think you may be referring to penghui.  It is an alkali substance for which there are substitutes (see here for one).  It can also be omitted.  In some regions noodles are traditionally made without out it.   There is a very good article about this here.

 

 

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.

[liuzhou]

8 minutes ago, Ader1 said:

So what's used instead of it?

 

Nothing

[Ader1]

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.

[liuzhou]

Well, the guy in my local Lanzhou Lamian place (100 yards from my door), who is from Lanzhou, manages just fine without it.

[Ader1]

25 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

Well, the guy in my local Lanzhou Lamian place (100 yards from my door), who is from Lanzhou, manages just fine without it.

  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.

[liuzhou]

Just now, Ader1 said:

  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.

 

He isn't keeping it secret. I asked him. He showed me. More than once. From start to lunch.

 

And you don't know what I know.

 

[Ader1]

6 hours ago, liuzhou said:

 

He isn't keeping it secret. I asked him. He showed me. More than once. From start to lunch.

 

And you don't know what I know.

 

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.

Edited February 23, 2019 by Ader1 (log)

[Burmese Days]

On 2/23/2019 at 9:12 AM, liuzhou said:

Well, the guy in my local Lanzhou Lamian place (100 yards from my door), who is from Lanzhou, manages just fine without it.

How interesting.

 

I would assume it's closer to Latiaozi because it doesn't have any alkaline? It must take a huge amount of skill to pull them thin without any type of dough conditioner. How thin can he make the noodles?

Edited July 16, 2020 by Burmese Days (log)