Wu'an Zhuai Noodles

Wu'an Zhuai Noodles

　　Wu'an Zhuai Noodles are a specialty of Wu'an City in Handan, Hebei Province. Every step in making Wu'an Zhuai Noodles is very particular, from kneading the dough to making the sauce and finally stretching the noodles—all are crucial. The noodles are slightly wide and have a very chewy texture.

　　Zhuai Noodles are a common home-cooked dish featuring the distinctive local flavor of both urban and rural areas in Wu'an, Hebei Province. The technique of making Zhuai Noodles is highly specialized. To make good pulled noodles, one must master the correct method: prevent the dough from losing moisture while kneading, ensure the stretched strands are even, and spread them out when dropping them into the pot to avoid clumping. Depending on different tastes and preferences, Zhuai Noodles can also be made as soybean paste Zhuai Noodles, meat sauce Zhuai Noodles, or vegetarian sauce Zhuai Noodles. They can also vary in thickness and width according to personal preference.

　　How to Make Zhuai Noodles

　　Kneading the Dough

　　Generally, use cool water to knead the dough; in winter, use warm water. Dip your hands in saltwater and repeatedly press the dough. The dough should be soft—hard dough is prone to breaking when stretched. After kneading, let the dough rest in a basin for a while, then prepare the sauce.

　　Making the Sauce

　　1. Vegetable Sauce: Stir-fry various vegetables such as potatoes, tomatoes, yams, eggplants, green peppers, and cabbage in sequence in a pot. Then add stir-fried meat slices or eggs, pour in water, and bring to a boil to make the vegetable sauce.

　　2. Fried Sauce: Dice pork belly and stir-fry it vigorously with scallions and ginger. Also dice daylily buds, wood ear mushrooms, and other ingredients. Then fry the sauce, add the prepared ingredients, and simmer briefly with a bit of broth to make the fried sauce.

　　Stretching the Noodles

　　Roll out the well-kneaded dough from the basin into a thin sheet (about three millimeters thick), then cut it into strips about two centimeters long using a knife. Hold both ends of each strip and pull outward while lifting. Because the dough contains salt, it’s very elastic and resilient, so it generally won’t break. When the noodles are stretched thin and long, drop them into boiling water to cook, then move on to stretch the next strip.

　　Scooping the Noodles

　　Once all the noodles are stretched and cooked, use chopsticks to lift them into a bowl. Add a spoonful of sauce, along with some sesame salt (just ground sesame seeds), sesame paste, fermented tofu soup, or chive flower condiments, and it’s ready to enjoy. These noodles are slightly wide and thick, and have a very chewy texture.

　　Characteristics of Zhuai Noodles

　　Characteristic One: The Dough

　　Originally, the dough was made from locally grown wheat in Wu'an, but now industrially produced flour is used. When kneading, the ratio of salt, water, and flour must be just right. Too much salt makes it hard to stretch, too little causes breakage, too much water makes the dough soft, and too little makes it hard. Moreover, this is not something you can learn in just a day or two—it comes with time and practice.

　　Characteristic Two: Kneading the Dough

　　The basin used by Wu'an people for kneading is a common household ceramic basin from Pengcheng in Cixian. When kneading, they aim for “three smooths”: smooth dough, smooth hands, and a smooth basin. Only when these are achieved is the dough considered well-kneaded. Let the dough rest for half an hour before starting to roll it out.

　　Characteristic Three: Rolling the Dough

　　Wu'an people call it “rolling the dough.” Take a lump of dough, roll it into a long dragon-like shape in your hands, then bang the two ends together like a rope and roll them back into one. Repeat this process back and forth until the two ends of the dough are even and the surface is shiny. The only goal is to give the dough elasticity. Be sure not to add any additives.

　　Characteristic Four: Rolling with a Rolling Pin

　　When ready to stretch, place the dough on a floured board and sprinkle dry flour on top—the more flour, the less sticky. Then roll it out with a rolling pin (if you don’t use a rolling pin but keep rolling and pulling the dough, that’s called Wu'an hand-pulled noodles). When rolling, ensure the dough is evenly thin. Remember, if it’s too thin, the stretched noodles won’t look good and will be short; if it’s too thick, the stretched noodles won’t be aesthetically pleasing. Generally, aim for a thickness of five millimeters. Roll the dough longer, with a width roughly the size of your knife. Remember to sprinkle plenty of dry flour.

　　Characteristic Five: Cutting the Noodles

　　When cutting the rolled dough, use a knife to slice vertically. The width should be slightly more than the thickness, usually around eight millimeters (proportionally). Slice from left to right, ensuring the noodles are evenly sized and symmetrical. (Skilled hands can do this in just a few quick cuts.) This cuts the dough into strips. Then sprinkle a bit more dry flour.

　　Characteristic Six: Stretching the Noodles

　　How to stretch them? Roll up all the sliced strips, coiling them like bundles of dried noodles or chopsticks. Hold both ends, then with a strong motion, pull both ends hard against the board—the dough will naturally stretch. You can pull several times (if you have strong arms and are tall, one pull may suffice). If your arms are shorter, do it twice. Then, align the two ends of the dough, free one hand, and insert it into the middle of the dough to stretch it again. Then, on the board, use one hand to pull outward and the other to stretch (pronounced “chēn”). Finally, chop the stretched ends where they naturally separate into individual strands. The noodles are now as thin as chopsticks—one batch goes into the pot. Remember to use chopsticks to separate the noodles in the pot to prevent sticking. Cook until the water boils.

　　Wu'an people also call the first batch of noodles “bundled noodles,” as they are served in handfuls like bundled dried noodles.

　　For the second batch, re-knead the leftover chopped dough, wait a bit, and eat the first batch first. Then roll out the dough again. Since the dough has been used once, the second batch isn’t as elastic, so it’s made into wider, individual noodles—usually around two centimeters wide. Stretch each noodle individually, then place them one by one into the pot. When placing them, use chopsticks to separate the noodles in the pot to prevent sticking.

　　Feature Seven: The Gravy

　　Also known as vegetable-based gravy, it’s made by stir-frying various seasonal vegetables—such as potatoes, tomatoes, Chinese yam, eggplants, green peppers, and cabbage—in a pot. Then cooked slices of meat or eggs are added, followed by water and brought to a boil to create the vegetable gravy. There's a lot of flavor science involved, and each household has its own unique style. You can also use stir-fried or fried bean paste instead.

　　As the saying goes, when outsiders visit Wu’an, they always ask for “more gravy, please!” The ratio of gravy to noodles in Zhuāimiàn (hand-pulled noodles) is carefully balanced—unlike knife-cut noodles or Lanzhou beef noodles, which are almost all noodles. Zhuāimiàn is different: it includes a variety of vegetables, and comes with both meat-based and vegetable-based gravies. It’s flavorful and nutritious. The proportion of noodles to gravy is just right, leaving customers wanting more.

　　After finishing your noodles, take note: chopsticks should be placed flat on top of the bowl. Many places have this etiquette. Most people in Wu’an are taught this by their parents from a young age—those who don’t follow it might even get scolded. Also, in Wu’an, how far a child holds the chopsticks from the bowl is said to predict something: if they hold them at the very top, it means their future wife will come from far away; if they hold them closer to the bowl, toward the lower end of the chopsticks, it means their future wife will be nearby. Friends visiting Wu’an for Zhuāimiàn, beware of breaking these local taboos.