Chinese Handmade Noodles: Just 3 Ingredients! - The Woks of Life (2024)

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Chinese Handmade Noodles: Just 3 Ingredients! - The Woks of Life (1)

by: Sarah

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Chinese Handmade Noodles: Just 3 Ingredients! - The Woks of Life (2)

Nothing makes you feel quite so accomplished as slurping down a bowl of Chinese handmade noodles that you kneaded, rolled, and cut from scratch.

These deliciously chewy, springy noodles can be served in soup or mixed with whatever tasty sauces and toppings you can dream up for a delicious meal.

How to Make Chinese Noodles: Key Tips

Most likely, you already have everything you need to make these homemade Chinese noodles: bread flour, salt, and water.

Chinese Handmade Noodles: Just 3 Ingredients! - The Woks of Life (3)

If you have a mixer with a dough hook attachment, it’ll be a piece of cake! If not, no matter. A bit of elbow grease, and you’ll be making noodles the same way cooks have been making them in China for centuries.

Chinese Handmade Noodles: Just 3 Ingredients! - The Woks of Life (4)

Here are some key tips for success:

  • Use bread flour (i.e. “strong flour” or high gluten flour): The way to get a good chew in your noodles is to develop the gluten in the dough. Using flour with high gluten content (known to U.S. consumers as bread flour or strong flour in the U.K.) makes a big difference. That said, if you REALLY need some noodles and can’t go to the store for bread flour, all purpose flour will do in a pinch.
  • Don’t add too much water! Resist the temptation to add additional water, as the dough will look rather dry and lumpy at first. Too much water will make the noodles gummy rather than springy. You just have to have faith and give the flour enough time to absorb moisture.
  • Use lots of flour when rolling and cutting: The action of cutting the noodles with a knife will press the layers of dough together. To prevent them from sticking, be sure to thoroughly flour both sides of the dough before folding and cutting. This is another reason to avoid using too much water in the dough––to prevent it from sticking.
  • Be mindful of thickness: The noodles will expand when cooked, so whatever thickness you see when cutting the raw dough, the cooked noodles will be significantly thicker. Keep this in mind when rolling and cutting. You may want to roll the dough out thinner and cut the noodles thinner than you initially think.
  • Weight measurements are best: 2 US cups for me is about 300g when I measure it out in a dry measuring cup and weigh it, but other online sources say 1 cup of flour is 120g or 128g. These kinds of inconsistencies are why I highly recommend measuring by weight for the best results. Invest in a digital kitchen scale if you don’t have one already. We use ours all the time!

Dishes to Make With These Handmade Noodles

In short, you can use your Chinese handmade noodles in any noodle soup or sauced noodle dish of choice! Here are some ideas:

  • 15-Minute Hot Oil Noodles (our pick for something quick and easy, and what is pictured in the prepared photos in this post!)
  • 10-Minute Sesame Noodles
  • Scallion Oil Noodles
  • Dan Dan Noodles
  • Hot Pot Sauce Noodles
  • Lao Gan Ma Noodles
  • Steamed Noodles and Green Beans
  • Big Plate Chicken with Noodles
  • Beijing Fried Sauce Noodles (Zha Jiang Mian)
  • Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup
  • Yang Chun Noodle Soup
  • Spicy Beef Noodle Soup
Chinese Handmade Noodles: Just 3 Ingredients! - The Woks of Life (5)

Homemade Chinese Noodles: Recipe Instructions

Ok, let’s get into how to make Chinese noodles from scratch!

Start by adding the bread flour and salt to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment (or a large regular mixing bowl) and whisk together to incorporate.

Turn the mixer on low speed. Gradually add the water in two batches, giving the flour time to absorb the water with each addition. If doing this by hand, simply stir with your hands as you gradually add the water.

Chinese Handmade Noodles: Just 3 Ingredients! - The Woks of Life (6)

The mixture will eventually form a shaggy dough after 5 minutes of kneading.

Chinese Handmade Noodles: Just 3 Ingredients! - The Woks of Life (7)

If the mixer fails to bring it all together, turn off the mixer and push the dough together with your hands.

Chinese Handmade Noodles: Just 3 Ingredients! - The Woks of Life (8)

Once the dough has formed a relatively cohesive ball (it will look lumpy), continue to knead with the mixer for 10 minutes or by hand for 15 minutes. Avoid the temptation to add additional water, as this will affect the texture of your noodles.

Chinese Handmade Noodles: Just 3 Ingredients! - The Woks of Life (9)

Cover the dough with an overturned bowl, and allow it to rest for 30 minutes. During this time, it will continue to absorb moisture, and become more pliable and elastic.

Chinese Handmade Noodles: Just 3 Ingredients! - The Woks of Life (10)

After the dough has rested, knead it a few more times to get any air bubbles out of it. Form into a ball and cut the ball in half.

Chinese Handmade Noodles: Just 3 Ingredients! - The Woks of Life (11)

On a floured surface, roll one half of the dough into a thin sheet, about 2mm thick––this will take time!

Chinese Handmade Noodles: Just 3 Ingredients! - The Woks of Life (12)

Flour the surface of the sheet thoroughly, flip over, and thoroughly flour the other side.

Chinese Handmade Noodles: Just 3 Ingredients! - The Woks of Life (13)

Once floured, fold the dough so you have 4 layers.

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Chinese Handmade Noodles: Just 3 Ingredients! - The Woks of Life (15)

Slice the noodles with a sharp knife to your desired thickness. We decided to cut them about ⅛-inch thick.

Chinese Handmade Noodles: Just 3 Ingredients! - The Woks of Life (16)

As you’re cutting the noodles, gently separate them out with your hands and toss them in flour so they don’t stick.

Repeat this process with the second half of the dough.

Chinese Handmade Noodles: Just 3 Ingredients! - The Woks of Life (17)

Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook the noodles for 1 to 3 minutes, depending on the thickness. Keep an eye on the noodles as they cook and taste them to determine when they’re cooked (there is a lot of variation depending on how thinly they were rolled and cut, so test in real time to determine when they’re done).

Chinese Handmade Noodles: Just 3 Ingredients! - The Woks of Life (18)

Serve your handmade noodles in soup or with sauce as desired!

Chinese Handmade Noodles: Just 3 Ingredients! - The Woks of Life (19)
Chinese Handmade Noodles: Just 3 Ingredients! - The Woks of Life (20)
Chinese Handmade Noodles: Just 3 Ingredients! - The Woks of Life (21)
Chinese Handmade Noodles: Just 3 Ingredients! - The Woks of Life (22)

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4.94 from 46 votes

Chinese Handmade Noodles

With this easy recipe for Chinese handmade noodles and just 3 ingredients (flour, salt, water), you'll have springy, delicious noodles in an hour or less!

by: Sarah

Prep: 50 minutes minutes

Total: 1 hour hour

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Ingredients

  • 300 grams bread flour (also known as strong flour or high-gluten flour)
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 150 ml water

US CustomaryMetric

Instructions

  • Add the bread flour and salt to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment (or a large regular mixing bowl) and whisk together to incorporate.

  • Turn the mixer on low speed, and gradually add the water in two batches, giving the flour time to absorb the water with each addition. If doing this by hand, simply stir with your hands as you gradually add the water.

  • The mixture will eventually form a shaggy dough after 5 minutes of kneading. If the mixer fails to bring it all together, turn off the mixer and push the dough together with your hands.

  • Once the dough has formed a relatively cohesive ball (it will look lumpy), continue to knead by with the mixer for 10 minutes or by hand for 15 minutes. Avoid the temptation to add additional water, as this will affect the texture of your noodles.

  • Cover the dough with an overturned bowl, and allow it to rest for 30 minutes. During this time, it will continue to absorb moisture, and become more pliable and elastic.

  • After the dough has rested, knead it a few more times to get any air bubbles out of it. Form into a ball and cut the ball in half.

  • On a floured surface, roll one half of the dough into a thin sheet, about 2mm thick––this will take time! Flour the surface of the sheet thoroughly, flip over, and thoroughly flour the other side.

  • Once floured, fold the dough so you have 4 layers. Slice the noodles with a sharp knife to your desired thickness. We decided to cut them about ⅛-inch thick. As you’re cutting the noodles, gently separate them out with your hands and toss them in flour so they don’t stick. Repeat this process with the second half of the dough.

  • Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook the noodles for 1 to 3 minutes, depending on the thickness. Keep an eye on the noodles as they cook and taste them to determine when they’re cooked (there is a lot of variation depending on how thinly they were rolled and cut, so test in real time to determine when they’re done).Serve in soup or with sauce as desired!

Tips & Notes:

Note, if you’d rather not roll the dough by hand, you can also use a pasta roller, starting with the thickest setting and gradually moving to you’re preferred thinner setting. Make sure to thoroughly flour both sides of the dough sheet as you roll and cut the noodles.

nutrition facts

Calories: 361kcal (18%) Carbohydrates: 73g (24%) Protein: 12g (24%) Fat: 2g (3%) Saturated Fat: 1g (5%) Sodium: 198mg (8%) Potassium: 100mg (3%) Fiber: 2g (8%) Sugar: 1g (1%) Calcium: 15mg (2%) Iron: 1mg (6%)

nutritional info disclaimer

TheWoksofLife.com is written and produced for informational purposes only. While we do our best to provide nutritional information as a general guideline to our readers, we are not certified nutritionists, and the values provided should be considered estimates. Factors such as brands purchased, natural variations in fresh ingredients, etc. will change the nutritional information in any recipe. Various online calculators also provide different results, depending on their sources. To obtain accurate nutritional information for a recipe, use your preferred nutrition calculator to determine nutritional information with the actual ingredients and quantities used.

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@thewoksoflife

You may also like…

  • Cold Sesame Noodles, An Old Chinese favorite

  • Homemade Chinese Egg Noodles

  • 15-Minute Chinese Hot Oil Noodles (You Po Mian)

  • Big Plate Chicken (Chinese Da Pan Ji) with Noodles

Chinese Handmade Noodles: Just 3 Ingredients! - The Woks of Life (28)

About Sarah

Sarah is the older daughter/sister in The Woks of Life family. Creator of quick and easy recipes for harried home cooks and official Woks of Life photographer, she grew up on episodes of Ready Set Cook and Good Eats. She loves the outdoors (and of course, *cooking* outside), and her obsession with food continues to this day.

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