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Chinese Egg Noodles
4.34 from 6 votes
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Servings: 1.5 pounds of noodles
Author: Lisa Lin

Simple Chinese Egg Noodles

This Chinese egg noodle recipe makes about 1.5 pounds of noodles. Refer to the notes section for directions on how to freeze the noodles or make the dough and noodles ahead.
Prep Time1 hour 30 minutes
Cook Time10 minutes
Total Time1 hour 40 minutes

Ingredients

  • 400 g all-purpose flour, 3 1/3 cups using the spoon and sweep method
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt, 3/4 teaspoon table salt
  • 4 large eggs
  • 4 teaspoons water
  • flour or potato starch for dusting

Instructions

Make Dough - Stand Mixer Method

  • Add the flour, salt, and eggs to the bowl of the stand mixer. Fit the mixer with the dough hook and mix the ingredients on low for about 30 seconds to 1 minute. Turn off the mixer. At this point, you’ll probably see a lot of flour along the edge of the bowl that’s not getting mixed into the eggs. Using a spatula or scraper, loosen the flour along the sides of the bowl.
  • Mix the dough on low again, until the eggs have been incorporated into the flour. At this point, your dough will look very crumbly with a lot of tiny, dry clumps of dough around the edges and the bottom of the bowl. Drizzle the water over the dry clumps. Mix the dough on low speed for another 2 minutes and turn off the mixer. 
  • Using your hands, gather up and squeeze all the small bits of dough into a big lump. This may take 2 or 3 minutes. If possible resist the urge to add more water. If you still have a lot of dry clumps of flour after several minutes of gathering the dough together, add another teaspoon of water to the dough. Work the water into the dough. 

Making Dough By Hand

  • In a large mixing bowl, add the flour and salt. Using a fork, create a small well in the center of the bowl. Crack 4 eggs into the well and whisk the eggs together. Then, use the fork to mix the flour with the eggs. Continue doing this for about 1 minute, until all the egg has been incorporated into the flour.
  • Brush the shaggy bits of dough on the top of the bowl aside. You’ll probably see loose flour or tiny bits of dough at the bottom of the bowl. Drizzle the water here and use your fork to mix the dough and water together.
  • Now, use your hands to gather all the small bits of dough into a big lump. This may take 2 or 3 minutes. Add a tiny drizzle of water only if there’s a lot of dry flour after a few minutes of gathering the dough.

Rest and Knead the Dough

  • Cover the bowl with a damp towel or silicone lid, and let the dough rest for 30 minutes. This will give time for the dough to hydrate more before you start kneading it. 
  • Take the lump of dough out of the bowl and knead it on a surface for 6 to 7 minutes. You shouldn’t need to flour the work surface for this as the dough is pretty dry. The dough will feel pretty stiff, and that’s okay. Once you finish kneading, the ball of dough should feel much smoother than when you first started kneading the dough.
  • Place the ball of dough back into the bowl, cover it, and let it rest for another 15 to 20 minutes. This will allow the gluten to relax before you make the noodles.

Cut Dough Into Noodles

  • I highly recommend using a pasta machine or a pasta attachment with a stand mixer to cut the noodles. Because the dough is so stiff, it is difficult to roll out the dough into a thin sheet. 
  • Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces, about 150 to 155 grams each. Flour your work surface. Shape each piece of dough into an oval shape. Then, roll them out into oval discs of about 4 inches by 6 inches, and 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Dust both sides of these discs with flour. 
  • Turn your pasta machine to the thickest setting and feed the dough through the pasta machine twice. Then, turn the dial on the pasta machine to the next setting (which should be thinner) and roll out the pasta once. Continue turning the dial to the next setting and rolling out the sheet of noodle until you get a pretty thin sheet. If you hold the sheet of pasta to the light, you can start to see light going through it. I usually roll them dough out to the 6 or 7 setting in my pasta machine. 
  • Depending on your preference, cut out the sheet of dough with the narrow or wide pasta cutter.
  • Transfer the noodles to your work surface and sprinkle the noodles generously with flour or starch (see note 1). Shape the noodles into a loose bundle, cover it with a dry towel, and continue rolling out the remaining pieces of dough. 

Cook Noodles

  • Bring a small pot of water to boil. In general, you don’t salt the water when cooking Chinese noodles. Add half of the noodles to the boiling water. Use a wooden spoon or large chopsticks to stir the noodles for about 15 to 30 seconds to keep the noodles from sticking together. If you are cooking thinly cut noodles like mine in the photos, cook them for 2 to 3 minutes, until the water is at a rolling boil again and the noodles are floating at the top. If you are cooking thicker noodles you may need a few more minutes. (See note 2)
  • Drain the noodles. If you are not using the noodles immediately, rinse them with cold water and drain them. 
  • Cook the remaining noodles in the boiling water. Alternatively, refer to the notes below for more information on how to freeze or store the noodles in the refrigerator.
  • You can use the noodles for wonton noodle soup or chow mein. Alternatively, you can toss the noodles with a sauce like the one in this recipe. 

Notes

  1. Plain flour will work but starch will be even better. Because the noodles aren’t made with starch, the starch won’t get absorbed into the noodles as easily. 
  2. The cooking time also depends on how much noodles you’re cooking at once. If you’re cooking 1 bunch of noodles at a time, 2 minutes should be sufficient. If you’re trying to cook all the noodles at once, you’ll need a larger pot of water, and you’ll likely need 1 or 2 more minutes of cooking.
  3. Making the dough ahead: Wrap the ball of dough in plastic before transferring it to a container to refrigerate. The next day, divide the dough into 4 pieces and roll them out like you would with fresh dough. If the edges of the smaller pieces of dough are feeling crusty, massage the dough with your fingers, and work the crusty bits into the center of the piece before shaping it into an oval and rolling it out.
  4. Making the noodles ahead: Flour the noodles generously before transferring them to a container to refrigerate. Use the noodles by the next day as they’ll start to change color after that.
  5. Freezing the noodles: Line a large plate or small baking sheet with parchment paper. Dust the noodles generously with flour or starch and place the noodles on the lined plate or baking sheet. When freezing my noodles, I like shaping the noodles in fairly loose bundles. The noodles will be easier to cook like this. When you are ready to cook the noodles, bring a pot of water to boil and add the frozen noodles to the pot. Cook until the noodles float to the top of the pot with rolling boiling water. This should be 30 seconds to 90 seconds longer than when you cook with fresh noodles.

Nutrition

Serving: 4ounces fresh noodles | Calories: 390kcal | Carbohydrates: 51.1g | Protein: 11.1g | Saturated Fat: 3.8g | Trans Fat: 1.1g | Cholesterol: 124mg | Sodium: 436mg | Fiber: 1.8g | Sugar: 0.3g
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