In Asian cuisine, noodles are an essential ingredient. There are many types of wheat noodles which can be served cold, hot, with soups or even ‘dry’ (tossed in a separate sauce). The combination is simply endless. In this recipe, I have decided to prepare egg-less wheat noodles. However, eggs may be used to add richness to the flavour and a hint of colour contributed by the egg yolk.
Rest dough before cutting
Egg-less wheat noodles do not require a lot of ingredients and can be easily made within a short period of time. I only left the dough to rest for 10 to 15 minutes. Viola! Roll out the dough and cut them into strips. Adding shallot oil definitely improved the taste and enhanced the aroma of the noodles but this is optional. Shallot oil may be substituted with other types of oil or simply omit it.
Similarity to udon noodles
Udon noodles are made similarly. Shallot oil, however, is not added to the dough and it is left to rest for a much longer time like for 4 hours or more. As the dough rests, gluten in the dough gets to strengthen. Kneading the dough thoroughly further strengthens the gluten. This provides more elasticity to the noodles. If you would like to chew into springy noodles, let the dough rest a little longer. You may also cut the dough into thicker slices to replicate the form of udon noodles.
Prevent noodles from sticking
As seen in the video, preparing the noodles is rather simple. There is one important tip which I want to share with you. Once the dough is flattened, dust flour generously to prevent it from sticking to each layer when it is folded. This would be really helpful when separating the noodles later.
How to cook wheat noodles
Wheat noodles should be cooked in boiling water. Salt is usually not required when it comes to most Asian recipes as the sauces or broths are already very flavourful. Although these homemade noodles are specially made for chilli pan mee, try other suggested recipes using chicken soups or a mixture of sauces as shown in the wonton noodles recipe.
Store homemade wheat noodles
To store the noodles, allow the separated noodles to rest for an hour before packing them. If this step is skipped, the wheat noodles may clumped together due to the moisture in the dough. It may be kept refrigerated for up to 2 days or frozen for up to 6 months.
