Chinese Hand Pulled Noodles With Chili Crisp

homemade chinese hand pulled noodles with chili crisp and green onion on a blue plate

Noodles are easy in my top 5 favorite foods. They are so versatile, from cooking styles to use in dishes, I could probably eat noodles every day and not get tired. These Chinese hand pulled noodles are actually extremely easy to make – and quite fun!

For simplicities sake I just tossed these thick, flat noodles in some homemade chili crisp. However if you aren’t a fan of spice there are many different options for you. I will give alternatives down below for those more sensitive tongues.

What Are Chinese Hand Pulled Noodles?

Like the name suggests, hand pulled noodles are simply noodles that have been stretched from a ball of dough by hand. This is different than machine extruded/cut noodles, or rolled out and cut by hand. This style is very popular in China, especially with the dish BiangBiang Noodles from Xi’An.

How To Make Chinese Hand Pulled Noodles?

The dough for these Chinese hand pulled noodles is very simple; you just need flour, water, and salt. Basically stuff you already have in your kitchen as you read this!

Chinese Noodle Dough Ingredients

  • 2 cups Flour (about 120 grams) – AP or all purpose flour works just fine here. You can also use bread flour but avoid cake or other light baking flours as they don’t have enough gluten to really stretch these noodles.
  • 1/2 cup Water (120 ml)
  • 1 tsp Salt
dough mix in a stand mixer

Using a stand mixer (or by hand) mix all the ingredients very well until you have a nice tight ball of dough. If kneading by hand this can take around 10 minutes, and about half that using a stand mixer with the dough hook.

four balls of Chinese Hand Pulled Noodle dough

Let your large ball of dough rest for at least a half hour, then cut and divide it into four smaller balls of dough. Let these smaller balls of dough rest for another 15 minutes.

Take a small ball of dough and cut it in half. Use a rolling pin to roll out a sheet about a foot (1/3 meter) in length. Then press a chopstick right in the middle. slowly pull and wiggle the dough until you can stretch it about a meter (3 feet) long. Then grab right in the middle intention and rip the sheet in two.

cutting hand pulled noodles as a cheat method

Alternatively, you can roll out your dough into a sheet using a standard pasta roller, and then cut right down the middle with a knife. As I don’t have the years of experience Chinese noodle pullers have, I just like to do it the cheat way.

boiling Chinese hand pulled noodles

Place the noodles in boiling water and cook no more than 2 minutes. Fresh Chinese noodles, just like fresh pasta, cook a lot faster than the dry version.

Place the noodles in a bowl and pour over a few tablespoons of chili crisp. You can use store bought just fine but I find it easy and cost effective to make my own. Then toss everything together and serve.

homemade chinese hand pulled noodles with chili crisp and green onion on a blue plate

What Other Sauces Go With Chinese Noodles?

  • Soy Sauce or Soy Sauce and Black Vinegar mix
  • Beef or Lamb Broth
  • Sesame Paste with Vinegar, Rice Wine, and Soy Sauce
  • …and MANY MORE!

How To Make Homemade Chili Crisp

Chili Crisp Ingredients

chili crisp ingredients on a wooden table

Since a good chili crisp is made with a strong infused oil you’re going to want excellent spices along with your peppers. This recipe is for one cup of chili crisp, but that just means it is very easy to scale up.

Infused Oil Ingredients List

  • 1 cup Oil – soybean oil is what is most popular in China, but any neutral oil will work. I use sunflower oil as it works well too.
  • 1 tbsp Allspice – this is also known as the Jamaica pepper and resembles a large, smooth peppercorn.
  • 2 Star Anise
  • 1 tbsp Black Peppercorns
  • 1 tbsp Calabrian Chili – chopped
  • 4 cloves Garlic – thinly sliced
  • 1 Shallot – diced
  • 10 Chile de Arbol – dried
  • 2 Mini Sweet Peppers – you can just sub a bell pepper or other mild, fruity pepper for this ingredient.

Chili Crisp Ingredients List

  • 1 cup Oil – same as you used for the infused oil
  • 2 tbsp Red Chili Flakes
  • 2 tbsp Gochugaru – these are Korean chili flakes mostly used for kimchi, but they are fruity and delicious and add great flavor to this chili crisp recipe
  • 1 Shallot – diced
  • 2 cloves Garlic – thinly sliced
  • 1 tbsp Peanuts – chopped
  • 2 tsp Fish Sauce – optional
  • 1 tsp MSG – if you’re one of the people who like to pretend MSG is bad for you then feel free to leave it out or just replace it with salt

How To Make Homemade Chili Crisp

chili crisp ingredients in a pot on a towel

Add the infused oil ingredients to a small pot and bring to a simmer. I do this on the lowest flame my cooktop has because you want to do this as low and slow as possible. Use a wooden spoon to stir every so often, making sure nothing sticks to the bottom.

simmering chili crisp ingredients in hot oil

Let the pot simmer for about a half hour, or until the ingredients are almost black. If it looks like it is getting too hot too fast feel free to take it off the burner for a minute or two.

chili flakes and other ingredients in a glass jar

While the oil is simmering place the ‘chili crisp ingredients’ minus the fish sauce and msg into a jar. Feel free to add more of any ingredients if you feel it needs it.

After about a half hour the ingredients in the pot should be near black. This oil is delicious and so flavorful, but it isn’t very hot…yet. Turn the heat to the highest setting for about a minute, just to get the oil even hotter for the next step.

plastic bag of aji-no-moto MSG crystals

Lastly strain the boiling oil directly into the jar you put the ‘chili crisp ingredients’. The chili flakes, garlic, shallot, and the rest should hiss and pop as the oil essentially quick fries them giving that signature crisp crunch. Then stir in a tsp of the MSG which will give it’s signature umami kick. When cool you can add the fish sauce (it’s better uncooked in my opinion).

homemade chinese hand pulled noodles with chili crisp and green onion on a blue plate

Chinese Hand Pulled Noodles

These straightforward recipe for Chinese hand pulled noodles will have you whipping up the Xi'an classic in no time at all.
5 from 1 vote
Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 2 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 2 minutes
Course Main Course, Main Dish
Cuisine Chinese
Servings 2 people
Calories 480 kcal

Equipment

  • 1 stand mixer optional
  • 1 Pot for boiling

Ingredients
  

  • 250 grams Flour this is about two cups. You want something with some gluten in it like AP or bread flour. Avoid cake flour.
  • 120 ml Water this is 1/2 cup
  • 1 tsp Salt
  • 3 tbsp Chili Crisp store-bought or homamde

Instructions
 

  • In a stand mixer, or by hand, knead together all the ingredients (except the chili crisp of course). Knead until you have a nice tight ball of dough that springs back when you press into it. Let rest for 30 minutes.
  • Divide dough ball into 4 pieces and knead into smaller balls. Let rest 15 minutes.
  • Cut the balls in half and use a rolling pin to roll out a sheet about a foot in length. Press a chopstick down the middle. Grip both sides with your hands and stretch and wiggle the dough until it is about a meter (3 feet) long. Then grip the indented line down the middle and rip the noodles apart.
  • Boil the noodles for no more than 2 minutes. Drain and place in a bowl. Spoon over the chili crisp and toss everything together. Serve and enjoy.
Keyword Chinese Noodles, Gluten, Hand Pulled Noodles, Homemade Pasta, Noodles, Vegan, Vegetarian
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