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The Noodle 100 · make it at home

Biang biang noodles with hot-oil chili and garlic

1 hr 20 min (1 hr resting) · 2 to 3

Shaanxi's belt-wide noodles, named for the slap on the counter as they're stretched. The simple version, oil-splashed, is the best: chili, garlic and scallions sizzled with smoking oil right on the noodles.

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The real one

You need

• For the noodles: 300 g (2 1/3 cups) all-purpose or bread flour, 165 ml (2/3 cup) water, 1/2 tsp salt, oil for coating
• To dress: 2 tbsp light soy sauce, 2 tbsp black vinegar (Chinkiang), 1/2 tsp sugar
• To finish: 4 cloves garlic minced, 3 scallions sliced, 2 tbsp chili flakes, 1 tsp ground Sichuan pepper, 1 tsp ground cumin (optional), 80 ml (1/3 cup) neutral oil
• Greens: a handful of bok choy or spinach

How to make it

1. Dough (15 min + 1 hr rest): Mix flour, salt and water, knead 8 minutes until smooth. Divide into 6, roll into short logs, flatten into tongues about 15 cm long, brush with oil, cover and rest at least 1 hour (or overnight in the fridge).
2. Stretch (10 min): Get a big pot boiling. Press a chopstick down the middle of one piece. Hold both ends and pull, bouncing it against the counter, to an arm's length. Tear it in two along the chopstick line, leaving a loop.
3. Cook (2 min a batch): Drop straight into the boiling water, 2 or 3 at a time, and cook 1 1/2 to 2 minutes until they float and are tender. Blanch the greens in the same water.
4. Splash (3 min): Drain into a wide bowl with the soy, vinegar and sugar. Pile the garlic, scallions, chili, Sichuan pepper and cumin on top. Heat the oil until smoking and pour it over: it should sizzle hard. Toss and eat.

Tips

• If it tears, the dough needs more rest.
• Add the cumin lamb from Xi'an Famous Foods: stir-fried lamb with cumin and chili on top.

Chef Amazing's own home version, in our words; not any shop's recipe.