Why was she opting to do the hand-pulled noodles?!
Flour mixing and proper kneading of the dough should be mastered in order to make good-quality hand-pulled noodles. Tian Lingyu knitted his brows. He believed Lu Xinyi should be doing the knife-cut noodles, but he had to admit that her knife skills and kneading techniques were impressive. He’d known since they were young that Lu Xinyi preferred making sweets and desserts over cooking dishes; hence, he shouldn’t be surprised if she was better at kneading dough than him.
Huang Shenghao whistled beside him as they watched Lu Xinyi knead the dough until it was smooth and more pliable. “She’s good.”
Her speed and strength of kneading were admirable. Who would have thought that a woman of her size could execute such strong and accurate pressure on the dough she was working. Lu Xinyi did a folding technique as she kneaded the dough and folded it over and over. This technique helped push the air out. It also made the strands and the protein stronger so the texture of the noodle would come out bouncier.
The problem all the examinees would face was how to make proper noodles when kneading and resting the dough with the limited time they had for this round. Kneading the dough developed the gluten that made the noodles firm and bouncy. One should knead the dough until it felt smooth and would no longer be sticky. Firm and smooth yet yielding and pliant… was another way to describe it. Getting the dough to this texture would take five to ten minutes depending on the flour, the humidity in the room, and the strength and speed it would be kneaded.
Generally, the elasticity of the noodle depended on the amount of flour, water, and, salt. On one hand, the dough should be tough enough so the noodles were elastic and smooth on the surface. On the other hand, it should be soft enough so one could easily pull it into strips that were long enough. The gluten relaxed along with the time, so a tougher dough required a longer resting time while a softer dough needed a shorter relaxing time.
“Examinees! You only have fifteen minutes left to present your noodle dishes! It’s time for you to do the final preparation and start plating!” Huo Meili reminded everyone.
Several scents filled the air, exciting the audience. Some had decided to leave their seats to buy something to eat in the hope of suppressing their hunger while watching the event.
As the broth of her noodle dish simmered on the stove, Lu Xinyi pulled her dough on both ends and slammed the middle part back at the countertop. The spectators turned their eyes at her as she shook the stretched dough in front of her and twisted it several times until she got the firmness she was aiming for. At this stage, her dough was extremely elastic. The purpose of throwing and twisting it repeatedly was to enhance its elasticity exponentially until it was ready to be pulled.
“Mommy is so cool!” Little Yuyan’s eyes lit up.
Adding more flour on her countertop, she cut her dough in four parts. Lu Xinyi could already feel her shoulders and back aching from constant kneading of the dough. She hadn’t done this technique for ages and was afraid that she’d forgotten what she learned from her father and Tian Lingyu.
Her father must be rolling on his grave and her mother laughing at him if they knew what she was doing. She didn’t have any choice but to rely on what she knew to survive this round.
Now, it was time for her to pull the dough. Rolling the smaller portion of the dough at the flour, she pulled on both ends with both hands and made loops. One single log of dough became two, four, eight… until it got thinner; and more arm-length noodles strands had been produced.
Shen Xue’s jaw dropped at how fast his sister-in-law was able to make hand-pulled noodles. It almost put him and everyone in a trance. How could she make something that needed ten years of mastery and experience to look like it was easy to do?
Each strand had the same thickness and color. From afar, it looked enticing and shiny. Lu Xinyi swished and ran the middle of the noodles on the dusted countertop like it was dancing, following her arm movements. It was almost impossible not to see that she was enjoying what she was doing.
Within five minutes, she was able to hand-pull the remaining dough and produced four parts of noodles. Taking a quick look at the timer above them, Lu Xinyi decided to let the noodles rest for about five more minutes while she sliced the beef she stewed with the chicken earlier. She cut it with the same thickness.
She then tasted the broth for salt and adjusted the seasoning. The soup base was ready.
Moving on, she threw the hand-pulled noodles into boiling water to let it cook before rinsing it with cold water to avoid being soggy and overcooked. She divided it into four bowls, added the clear, aromatic beef broth, and fanned out the sliced beef shanks on top of it. To finish everything, she added the radishes, a spoonful of hot chili oil, and a handful each of chopped garlic chives and cilantro.
By the time she was done, Lu Xinyi felt exhausted as if her whole energy had seeped out from her body. Staring at the noodles dish she had made, she was a bit skeptical with its taste. Usually, at least five hours needed to cook it; but with only one hour given to them, the taste wouldn’t be at its best.