Chinese Hand-Pulled Noodles In Beef Broth

Directions
Preparation:1hour  ›  Cook:2hours  ›  Extra time:30min  ›  Ready in:3hours30min 

1. Soup: Bring the 4 litres of water to the boil. Add beef, ginger, Sichuan peppercorns, dried tsaoko, dried mandarin peels and bay leaves, then bring back to the boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook, covered, for 2 hours. After 2 hours, remove and discard the whole spices, then season to taste with salt.
2. Noodles: Place the flour in a large bowl, and gradually mix in 600ml water. Bring the dough together and knead until smooth, 15 to 20 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and rest for 15 minutes. Knead again for 2 minutes, then re-cover and let rest for another 15 minutes. Finally, knead the dough one more time for 2 minutes.
3. Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces. Roll each piece to 1cm thick. Brush both sides of each sheet with oil, then stack them together. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside for 10 to 15 minutes.
4. Fill a large saucepan with water and bring to the boil. Once the water is boiling, add the sliced daikon and cook for 10 to 15 minutes. Drain well and set aside, but save the boiling water to cook the noodles.
5. Place one of the sheets of dough on a cutting board and slice into 5mm wide strips. Use both hands to hold the two ends of the strip, and pull and stretch to 80 to 90cm long, fold it in thirds and pull again to the same length. Shake and slam it several times, then drop it into the boiling water immediately to cook. The length of one strip of noodle should be around 2 to 3 metres. Add 2 to 3 more strips of noodles to the boiling water; cook each serving of noodles for a total of 5 to 10 minutes. Repeat the process with the remaining sheets of dough, serving each bowl of noodles as you finish cooking them.
6. To Serve: Place the drained noodles in a serving bowl. Pour over beef broth along with some of the beef, daikon and additional garnishes of chopped spring garlic, coriander and chilli oil if you like it spicy.

Ingredient Notes

Tsaoko is known by its Chinese name cao guo and is also sometimes called 'red cardamom'. It can be bought online or in some Asian food shops.
Look for dried mandarin orange peel in oriental shops. It lends a very distinctive flavour, don't be tempted to use fresh mandarin or fresh orange peel.