Pulled noodle dough: how can you realign the gluten after a failed attempt to pull?
I've seen many videos regarding how to knead the pulled noodle dough. The one recipe I used for this is:
For hand pulled noodles you need:
- Bread flour (wet gluten 29-30%, protein 11%-12%)
- 45% added water 1%
- sodium carbonate (soda ash)
- 0.2% sodium chloride (salt)
sourced from here.
I believe I've done the kneading right because the dough is smooth and elastic. I can pull & twist it a few times. Then I made a mistake and the dough broke and then it failed. After a few attempts to re-knead the dough using fold and knead techniques, it seems the gluten structure is messy. I can see the dough is rough. Seems like it's too alkaline or something.
Anyway, the question is can I fix the dough? because no matter how long I kneaded it, it seems not to realign (the dough is coarse and lacks the plasticity and flexibility, and tears easily if you tried to pull it, revealing the gluten mess).
Can anyone make any suggestion or recommendation from experience?
Best Answer
I'm new to the site and I wish I could make this a comment, not an answer, but I don't know how.
Hand pulled noodles use cake flour with less gluten and baking soda to reduce the gluten even further.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ze2SphqrWyg&feature=g-hist
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBSTSKY_DQs&feature=g-hist
If you are hand kneading, it's unlikely you are over-kneading because the dough will become very hard. The issue is very likely the soda ash overreacting with the wheat. But if you did over-knead, there is nothing you can do to save it
If you did break, there is no way of fixing it. Maybe to save the dough, change the strategy: Add eggs and more flour and make egg pasta. I have over-kneaded egg pasta many times in my KitchenAid mixer and it still turns out alright.
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Answer 2
The recipe you have is for ramen, not hand pulled noodles. Your gluten levels are way too high and the carbonate is not helping. If you are adding sodium carbonate, your noodles should be turning yellow. Look at examples of professionals pulling dough, all the dough is white, therefore no sodium carbonate was used. I have been working on hand pulled noodles recently, with success, but I have not nailed down all the parameters. A gluten content of 7.2% seems to be a requirement. Yes, the decimal place is important.
If you use softasilk and all-purpose flour you will get close enough to be able to make noodles for dinner. www.lukerymarz.com has a recipe to follow.
Answer 3
No personal experience, but
Dough Wetness
The wetter the dough, the easier it is to pull. If you are having trouble getting the dough to be stretchy, add some water. You'll want the dough to be wet enough such that it will stick to the counter or your hand if you let it sit for 10 seconds or so. After that, if you add more water, it will make it too difficult to handle and it will stick to everything.
Warmth
Warmer dough is stretchier. The warmer you keep the dough as you're trying to pull it, the better off you'll be. It isn't necessary to pull proper noodles, but it can make the difference if you're just getting the hang of it.
Practicing
You can practice with the same piece of dough for hours. If it gets too dry, just wet your hands or dip the dough in some water to rewet it.
Source: www.lukerymarz.com
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