Guiyang Dapai Noodles

Guiyang Dapai Noodles

　　Ingredients and seasonings: Premium flour, eggs, free-range chicken, pork rib chops, vegetable oil, dried chili peppers, salt, food-grade edible soda, soy sauce, mung bean sprouts, ginger, scallions, monosodium glutamate, and more.

　　 Specific preparation method:

　　 1. Noodle making: Typically, mix about 4 eggs per 500 grams of flour along with a small amount of food-grade edible soda and an appropriate amount of water, then knead repeatedly to form a dough. Place the dough on a special cutting board, press and roll it back and forth to create a sheet about 1.5 mm thick. Dust the sheet with starch as a releasing agent, fold it, and cut it into thin strips. Once cut, immediately divide the noodles into portions of about 80 grams each for later use.

　　 2. Pork chop preparation: Cut the pork rib chops into 1 cm thick slices, boil them in water to remove the blood foam, then remove and drain. Heat oil in a pan until 70% hot, stir-fry sliced ginger and Sichuan peppercorns until fragrant. Add the pork chops, star anise, cinnamon, fennel, salt, soy sauce, cooking wine, and monosodium glutamate, stir evenly, then add water and simmer over low heat until the meat is tender and falls off the bone.

　　 3. Broth preparation: Essential is a chicken broth made from free-range chicken; add an appropriate amount of salt after boiling. Make chili oil by blending vegetable oil with ground dried chili peppers. Wash the mung bean sprouts and use them when cooking the noodles. Ginger is added to the broth for flavor enhancement; scallions are finely chopped for garnish.

　　 4. Before serving, follow these steps: Boil water in a pot, add the noodles, and stir them apart as they go into the boiling water. When the water boils again and the noodles have cooked for a few rounds, lift them with chopsticks to check if they have straightened — once straightened, they are basically cooked. Add a small handful of mung bean sprouts to the pot, blanch briefly, then remove along with the noodles into a bowl. Pour in the chicken broth, then add chili oil and monosodium glutamate to the noodle bowl, place a piece of braised pork chop on top, sprinkle with chopped scallions, and the Dapai Noodles are ready.

　　 Flavor profile: The noodles are crispy, the pork chops are aromatic, and the chicken broth is savory. The dish offers crisp yet tender noodles, rich red oil that’s not overly spicy, and tender pork chops that are juicy but not greasy.

　　 Preparation tips: Boil the noodles over high heat with plenty of broth; cook only one portion of noodles at a time, just until they’ve boiled for a few rounds.