Use high gluten (bread) flour for hand pulled noodles
I found that recipes on hand pulled noodles use various types of flours that's confusing from a chemistry perspective. Dough made from high gluten flour is more elastic and less extensible which doesn't sound like a good candidate for hand pulled noodles. Has anybody had success making hand pulled noodles from high gluten flour?
Any experience and theory is appreciated! Thanks.
Best Answer
Hand pulled noodles are normally made with low to medium gluten flour (cake flour)
Alkalines, like Lye water or baking soda are added to soften hard flours (high gluten). You use much less for soft flour
Elastic may not be the word you want, supple is what you want in the dough. It need to be able to pull and not break, and stay that way
The dough needs to sit a few hours to fully saturate. Also keep it warm at a high-ish room temperature to keep it supple
It can take years of practice to pull noodles well
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Is it OK to use bread flour for noodles?
Bread flour is high in gluten, so it's also suitable for making pasta. In fact, there's enough gluten in bread flour that adding eggs isn't crucial \u2013 it's actually more suited for use in a dough without egg (pasta bianca). This type of pasta has been made in southern Italy for hundreds of years.What kind of flour do you use to make noodles?
All-purpose flour does what it says on the tin, so it's perfectly fine to use for making pasta. However, most pasta recipes will recommend either semola or \u201c00\u201d flour.What flour is used for Chinese noodles?
Chinese noodles are generally made from either wheat flour, rice flour, or mung bean starch, with wheat noodles being more commonly produced and consumed in northern China and rice noodles being more typical of southern China.What happens when high gluten bread flour is mixed and kneaded?
Kneading aligns these strings, creating a dough you might be able to stretch so thin you can almost see through it. The more gluten, the more elastic, stretchy and strong the dough will be. Mixing gluten and water results in a dough that almost feels like rubber.WHAT IS THE BEST FLOUR FOR HAND PULLED NOODLES? || Cake Flour vs AP Flour vs Bread Flour
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Answer 2
Only did a quick pulling lesson and, yes, would need years... but the dough only rested minutes initially then half an hour between pull sessions: After 6 or 7 stretches, once everything ripped apart, dough rested and was then much more compliant with my torture. Only managed in the end 7 pulls; fewer than my 6 year old!
So, give it a go with the higher gluten but longer rests in between
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