Hand-pulled noodles: simple and fun!

Hello my loves,

Ohhhhhh baby, do I have some fun for you this week! We are making hand-pulled noodles! At home! From scratch! And THEY ARE FUN AND SIMPLE AND DELICIOUS! These gorgeous noodles feature just three ingredients (flour + salt + water), and I promise you that they will be one of THE funnest things you have ever created in your kitchen. The noodle-stretching process is actually very easy, the clever things pretty much stretch themselves, with a just little help from you.

Oh yeah, we will PULL THOSE NOODLES!!

These are the chewy, stretchy Chinese-style noodles that you slurp at a noodle house. You know the ones, they're ferried to your table swimming in a fragrant broth, or bathed in some sort of sticky sauce laced with dark and delicious magic. You'll sometimes see the noodle chefs pulling them with flair behind the counter, but do not fear my loves - you do not need to be a noodle chef to create these beauties, they are eminently and easily achievable from your own kitchen, and seriously, who EVER had so much fun making something?! You'll be flying around your kitchen twirling ropes of noodles like you've been doing it your whole life, probably laughing maniacally all the while, and I promise you that your whole household will want a piece of the noodle-swinging pie once they see you in action. 

If you're entering your bajilllionth week at home with your sweet little people, then this is a GREAT one to keep them amused this weekend. Firstly you can rope them in to help knead the dough (many little hands make light work :)), and as for the noodle stretching? I'll wager you've all never had such a time in your kitchen. I've made a handy video which shows you all the steps (there's really just three), and demonstrating the pulling 'technique' (I use the term technique very loosely here as you will discover when watching how I do it). You can watch the video here, and you'll find the written recipe here. 

These noodles require two relatively short periods of resting, and if you start them mid-afternoon, they will be all ready for your dinner - allow about 2.5 hours from start to finish (the actual effort you will expend in this time is about 25 minutes). You can serve these stretchy wonders with pretty much anything you like, two of my faves are a spicy eggplant sauce, or a faux-pho broth spiked with seasonal basil and lemon. You'll find directions for making both of those in the written recipe. 

Happy noodling my loves, please if you make these can you send me some crazy noodle-pulling videos? I want to see you in all your noodling glory! 

Love, Rachel xxx

PS It seems that last week's brown sugar and spice cookie recipe went down a treat! The lovely Jacqui N sent me a note to say that they were "perfect for the rainy day we are having here. Everyone is happily munching on them in front of the fire as I send this email." Spiced brown sugar cookies in front of a fire? That is autumnal ecstasy if ever I heard it! If you missed it, you'll find the cookie video here and written recipe here.