Chinese Egg Noodles
Made From Scratch
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This post is part of a series of awesome egg recipes brought to you in collaboration with BC Egg.
All opinions are my own.
Food bloggers and writers are very seasonally aware people. Not only do we tend to pay attention to the ingredients in season, but it behooves us to be prepared for specific holidays and events as well. You're not going to see a whole lot of Christmas cookies published in July, and for good reason. With February 14th only a few days away, many food blogs are unsurprisingly chock-a-block with Valentine's Day recipes. That's great of course - I personally think my chocolate beet cake is a pretty stellar little seasonal recipe, and if I could tie little recipe cards to Cupid's arrows, you can bet that I would. But this year I'm a lot more excited about the holiday that happens to fall two days later: the Lunar New Year. I live in a part of Canada with a very large Chinese population, and I married into a Taiwanese family, so food and festivity really kick into high-gear around here. And food in particular tends to take on special significance.
I actually posted two Chinese New Year recipes on Diversivore this year (the other one is for chao nian gao), and I want to avoid repeating myself too much, so I'll keep this bit brief. Basically, the Lunar/Chinese New Year is a time for everyone to head home, be with family, and engage in lots of festivities meant to bring a happy start and good fortune for the year ahead. Many of these festivities specifically center around foods with symbolic importance. Dumplings are eaten because they resemble silver and gold ingots (and for linguistic reasons I won't get into here). Steamed chicken (with the head and feet attached) represents food and plenty for the whole family, as well as family unity. There are also a whole bunch of different dishes eaten specifically because of the importance of word play. Basically, the dishes and ingredients are either homonyms or puns for words that symbolize health, wealth, and prosperity. If you're a fan of language, I highly encourage you to come back to read the next post as well, as I go over the linguistics in much more detail. It's a really fun subject, and one I could write about all day, but today we're going to get specific and talk about two of my favourite foods coming together: eggs, and noodles.
Who doesn't love noodles? I mean, no matter what they're made of, or where in the world they come from, noodles are pure, perfect comfort food. In East Asia (the birthplace of noodles), they're made from wheat, buckwheat, mung beans, rice, and other starches, and prepared pretty much every way imaginable. Given that they've been a part of Chinese culture for well-over 2000 years, it's hardly surprising that they've taken on considerable cultural significance too. Long, unbroken noodles have come to represent longevity - so much so that cutting your noodles is equated with the risk of cutting one's own life short. No biting - you slurp those bad boys. Or, if you're my kids, you just sit there with a small look of growing concern on your face while you continue to shovel the noodles into your face, worried that you'll run out of mouth-space before the noodles finally end. Either way.
Eggs too are both popular and significant during the new year. The yellow yolk represents gold, and the eggs themselves represent fecundity and wishes for a big and healthy family. Whole egg dishes (like my Taiwanese Tea Eggs) are understandably popular at this time of the year because of that - though to be fair, they're pretty much beloved all-year-round. They're are also the star of a fun little tradition associated with Lunar New Year and the coming of spring - egg balancing. Folkloric tradition holds that fresh eggs can be balanced on their broad end because of celestial/gravitational/whatever alignment, and that achieving the feat will bring (you guessed it) good luck for the coming year. The tradition was exported to the USA in the mid-20th century, but the date was transposed to correspond with the equinox. Meanwhile, Taiwan associates the activity with the Dragon Boat Festival, which lands some time in late spring/early summer. The truth is that the date doesn't matter in the slightest - you can balance an egg on literally any day of the year. But trying is fun. Or infuriating. Or both.
Let's put those eggs and noodles together now, shall we? Many Chinese noodles are made with wheat and water only, but the addition of eggs makes for a richer, chewier dough with a beautiful yellowy hue. Noodle-making has long been one of those kitchen duties generally assigned to specialist shops and merchants, with few people making them at home for themselves. Now if you happen to live down the street from a noodle-making master, you're forgiven for thinking that this might not be the recipe for you. But for the rest of you, let me tell you just why you the three reasons you should make your own egg noodles at home.
- They're surprisingly easy - especially if you have a pasta maker, but even if you've only got a rolling pin.
- You can control what goes into them, meaning that you can use better quality ingredients.
- Fresh noodles (like many fresh starchy foods) are very different from frozen or dried noodles.
- Point number four is the unsurprising culmination of the other three: they taste absolutely incredible.
Points 1-3 are pretty self-explanatory, but let's really dwell on that whole taste thing for a minute. Fresh, homemade Chinese egg noodles taste amazing, and they offer a texture and freshness that elevates the ingredient from its all-to-common filler status. Noodles like this don't just go in a dish - they can anchor it. As for that whole 'easy-to-make' point, they really are pretty straightforward, but (as usual) I'll give plenty of notes, tips, and tricks below. As is so often the case, things are much easier when you're not guessing the details.
Once you've made your noodles you can try making all kinds of dishes with them. They excel in soups, where their rich flavour and chewy texture holds up very nicely. But if you're really want to show them off, keep reading and check out my little recipe for Soy Sauce Fried Noodles (or keep scrolling for a quick version at the bottom of this post).
Noodle Types
The dough this recipe yields can be used to make a few different types of Chinese noodle. These are primarily differentiated by the way they're cut and used, but (as with Italian pasta) the basic flavour is largely the same.
Note: for each variety below, the common English name is given, followed by the name in Traditional Chinese characters, Mandarin (Pinyin), and Cantonese (Yale with tone numbers)
Thin Noodles - 幼麵 - yòu miàn; yau3 min6 - Probably the most popular form of Chinese egg noodle, especially in Southern China, these are exactly what they sound like. They're thin (about the size of spaghetti), and usually round or slightly square in cross-section. They're used in a wide variety of dishes, but are especially popular in soups and in so-called 'dry' dishes (i.e. those with sauce rather than soup).
Oil Noodles - 油麵 - yóu miàn; yau4 min6 - Very similar to thin noodles in both appearance and name (the Chinese names differ only by tone), these noodles are basically differentiated by the fact that they're served with oil or in an oily sauce, and are generally tossed in some oil before cooking, drying, or refrigerating. Given the diversity of flavoured oils in Chinese cooking, there are a surprising number of variations and options out there. Oil noodles are also frequently sold pre-cooked.
Mee Pok Noodles - 麵薄 - miàn báo; min6 bok6 - Thin, flat noodles used to make the various Teochew dishes known collectively as (you guessed it) mee pok, these broad noodles are somewhat like fettuccine in appearance. You'll find lots of information about how the method used to cook these noodles makes a difference (or is purported to), but when it comes to the noodles themselves, a good quality egg noodle makes excellent mee pok when rolled thin and cut into fat strips.
Yi Mein (or Yee Mein) - 伊麵 - yī miàn; yi1 min6 - Larger, thicker noodles, yi mian are very popular in both the East and the West. They can be made and eaten fresh, though they're typically sold in large dried round blocks. These blocks are actually prepared by first deep-frying and then drying the fresh noodles, and as such aren't typically prepared at home. While I didn't make yi mian here, you could certainly try your hand at a thicker fresh egg noodle. If you do, make sure to adjust your cooking time a little bit to account for the larger size.
Wonton Noodles - 雲吞麵 - yún tūn miàn; wan4 tan1 min6 - Strictly speaking, this name applies more accurately to a finished soup dish than it does the noodle itself, though this name is often used in English on noodle packaging. Wonton noodles are generally thin noodles, or flat mee pok style noodle (see above for both types). A very fine, thin type of wonton noodle is popular for making dry stir-fried dishes.
Lo Mein Noodles - 撈麵 - lāo miàn; lou1 min6 - Like wonton noodles, lo mein is actually the name of a dish, not a noodle (in fact, it's just wonton noodles served 'dry,' i.e. with the soup on the side). Nonetheless, English packaging uses the term 'lo mein' pretty frequently, generally in reference to a particularly thick, chewy noodle resembling fresh yi mein. What exactly these thick lo mein noodles should be called isn't clear from my research (if you've got a definitive idea, let me know). They seem to be a very popular exported noodle, showing up in Southern Chinese expat communities all around the world, yet the noodles seem to generally be named after the dish they end up in (hokkien noodles, which seem to be more-or-less the same, are another example of this phenomenon). In any case, if you leave your rolled dough a little thick, you can easily make these wonderful and robust noodles at home.
Shrimp Roe Noodles - 蝦子麵 - xiāzi miàn; ha1 ji2 min6 - These fascinating egg noodles are basically thin noodles made by adding tiny shrimp eggs to the dough. They have a distinctive and much loved taste all their own. I haven't made them, but you can bet I'm going to try.
Jook-sing (Bamboo Pole) Noodles - 竹昇麵 - zhú shēng miàn; juk1 sing1 min6 - These noodles are uncommon even in the parts of Southern China from which they hail, but I mention them because they're pretty interesting. The ingredients in the dough are incorporated by a chef who literally sits atop a large bamboo pole, which is affixed to a wall on one end and held parallel to the working surface. The dough is then worked by repeatedly bouncing the bamboo pole up and down. Needless to say, I did not make these noodles. Sounds like fun though.
Recipe Notes
On a basic level, this is the simplest of recipes: dry and liquid ingredients kneaded into a dough, flattened, and cut. I could stop there, but that's not my style. The notes below are included so that you won't get to a stage and think to yourself 'wait, is this right?' I've also included notes about hand-rolling your dough vs. using a pasta maker. Both methods overlap until the final stages anyway, so while a pasta maker does make flattening and cutting the dough easier, it's by no means necessary.
I want to give credit where credit is due - I went through a lot of resources while trying to hammer out the details for this post, and I want to highlight a few gems that I think you should check out yourself. The wonderful website China Sichuan Food was the most useful one for me while I tried to sort out the technique, while the egg noodle recipe from Mummy I Can Cook clarified a few things and introduced me to the DIY sodium carbonate method.
On Gluten
Sometimes I think we forget that gluten isn't a dirty word. Don't get me wrong, some people straight-up can't eat the stuff, but when it comes to making good noodles, bread, cake, and the like, there is nothing like it. The product of two proteins (gliadin and glutenin, in the case of wheat), the amount of gluten in a recipe has a lot of bearing on the final texture of that recipe. Too little gluten, and noodles fall apart easily. Too much gluten and they can become pretty over-the-top chewy. Chinese noodles generally aim to be chewy and springy, so lots of gluten is good. There are a few things going on in this recipe to encourage gluten development, including both ingredients and techniques. I'll explain them below, as well as options and alternatives for those looking to experiment.
Flour
Wheat flours are not all created equal, and the different types can have affect the final noodles. You want to use a flour with a higher gluten content. The problem with this is that you can't always tell this ahead of the fact, as different wheat varieties contribute varying quantities of gluten. As a general rule, bread flour is fairly high in gluten, while pastry flour is comparatively low. All-purpose flour tends to be somewhere in the middle. I'm lucky to have access to the wonderful locally-milled flours made by the Vancouver company Flourist. I used a very finely milled 00 flour made from hard semolina wheat and it worked marvelously. It's also got a nice pale yellow colour that works quite nicely, given that we're aiming for yellow noodles anyway. Good quality unbleached bread flour will work nicely too. If you only have access to all-purpose flour, you can still make this work fine, but you'll need to double the kneading time to encourage more gluten formation.
If you're gluten-free… well, kudos for reading this far, but non-wheat alternatives aren't going to work well here. There are plenty of wonderful non-wheat noodles in the Chinese culinary pantheon, but that's a subject for another article and another day.
Lastly, I strongly encourage you to work with a kitchen scale when measuring flour. Volume measurements are inconsistent between different flour types, and you'll get better results here and in your baking by using weight. Inexpensive electric scales are easy to find and they save a lot of hassle in the kitchen. That being said, I've still given volume measurements in the recipe, though you may find that you need to troubleshoot a little bit more than you would with weight.
Eggs & Water
Take the eggs out of egg noodles, add more water, and you get basic Chinese wheat noodles. This flexibility means that you can actually play around with the egg and water ratios quite a bit.
I used three large eggs for this recipe. Extra-large eggs weigh, on average, about 5 grams more each (check this), so if you use them you may need to use about 15 ml (1 tbsp) less water. It's not an exact science though, so don't feel too shackled to the quantities. You can also use 2 eggs or 1 egg and increase the water, or a combination of egg yolks, whites, and water. All of these yield noodles with varying textures and flavours. Three-egg and all-yolk versions make for chewier and more egg-y tasting noodles (surprise surprise), making them well-suited to richer, saltier flavours. Fewer eggs makes for softer noodles with a milder, somewhat plainer flavour. Lye water makes a difference too, but we'll get to that below.
Lye Water & Alkalinity
There's really only one specialty ingredient involved in this recipe, and it's optional, so don't worry too much. Nonetheless, I thought I'd explain a bit about what lye water is, where to find it, how to substitute for it, and why it's worth using.
Lye water is a simple solution containing potassium carbonate or a related metal hydroxide salt. When dissolved in water, these salts create a solution with a strong basic (alkaline) pH. Adding lye water to foods affects the pH of those foods, which can in turn alter things like texture, cooking properties, and colour. Adding lye water to noodle dough has several interesting properties. First, it tends to make the noodles chewier. Second, it deepens the yellow colour. Third, and perhaps most interestingly, it can in fact add a slightly egg-y taste and aroma to the noodles. Because of these last two properties, some so-called egg noodles are not made with egg (or with much egg), but with lye water. Japanese ramen noodles, for example, are generally made with lye water (called kansui in Japanese), This gives them their distinctive bite and yellow colour.
Lye water can be found at well-stocked Chinese and Asian grocery stores, generally in the vicinity of vinegars and the like. I can't speak for all of North America of course, but where I live it's quite easy to find. If you can't find it, there are two options. First, it can be omitted. The eggs and lye water have similar effects on noodle dough, so while you may find that your noodles are a bit softer or need a bit more kneading without lye, they'll still work wonderfully thanks to the eggs. The second option is a fascinating DIY one. All you need to do is bake baking soda. That might sound a bit odd, but it's just a bit of simple chemistry. Simply spread a little baking soda on a flat plat or baking pan and place it in a low oven (about 200°F/95°C) for one hour. Baking soda is is sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) and heating it causes it to decompose and give off carbon dioxide and water, forming sodium carbonate (Na2CO3). Both compounds are alkaline in solution, but unlike its cousin baking soda, sodium carbonate won't give off carbon dioxide gas in your dough. This is important because we're trying to increase the pH, not leaven the mixture. A small amount of homemade sodium carbonate (about 1/8 tsp) can be added as a dry ingredient to your dough to achieve much the same effect that you'd get with lye water.
Working the Dough
There’s nothing terribly complicated at play here, but I will reiterate a couple of key points while explaining the reasons behind them.
When you first start to mix the wet and dry ingredients, you’ll see right away that it’s a rather dry dough. Don’t be tempted to add more water too quickly - the mixture will come together more and more as you begin to hand-mix it in the bowl. As you can see in the photo above, the very dry and flaky first step should work into a pretty nice, even ball with a bit of work. If you’re having trouble getting dough to hold together, add water about 1 tsp at a time.
Once you’ve got the dough formed, the rest of the operation is all about the gluten. (Side note: possible t-shirt slogan…). First, we vigorously knead and work the dough before letting it rest for about 30 minutes. After this step, we bash the dough with a rolling pin for about 5 minutes, then let it rest for another 30 minutes. Lastly, we roll the dough out in a fairly unidirectional fashion, making a long rectangle rather than a large square of dough. All of this is done to encourage gluten formation and elongation, leading to better, chewier noodles. As mentioned above, if you’re using all-purpose flour or a similar moderate-gluten flour, you may have to knead the dough a little bit longer to get the same results.
Looking for a visual aid? The photo above shows the dough after initial mixing (top left), the first kneading (top right), flattening (row two, left), and second kneading (row two, right). The dough is then rolled out, and cut.
Hand-rolling vs. Pasta Machine
Regardless of the method you use to finish the noodles, you’ll follow the same steps until the final stages. In the name of experimentation, I tried out both methods, and they’re both quite achievable. The pasta maker was certainly easier, but honestly, it was the machine’s cutting ability I liked most. The thin cutting blades on my pasta maker sliced thin you mian style noodles in mere seconds, saving me the trouble of working by hand. Hand rolling the dough isn’t tricky though, and I explain and illustrate the cutting methods below.
If you have a pasta machine, definitely use it. It’s easy, uniform, and it takes the guesswork out. The process is pretty much the same as you’d use for any pasta - feed the flattened dough through the machine on progressively thinner settings until it reaches the size you want, then cut by hand or using the cutting side of the machine. If you’re looking to achieve a classic Chinese noodle thickness, stop thinning the dough on the middle setting of the pasta maker (#3 on mine). I won’t go over the details of this method here, as they’re outlined in the basic instructions below.
No pasta machine? No worries. A rolling pin does a great job, and is not particularly difficult. Once you’ve worked the dough, cut it in half and stretch it out by hand into a short, rough cylinder and start rolling it the long way. Roll out to a uniform thickness (about 3-4 mm thick - see the image above for an idea), and don’t worry about trying to stretch the dough from side-to-side too much. The gluten is pretty well-formed at this point, and you’ll find it a lot easier to just roll the dough out in the direction it wants to go, rather than trying to force it into a broad sheet.
Noodle Cutting
If you’ve got a pasta maker, you can use the cutting rollers to finish your noodles. If you want to hand-cut your noodles, keep reading.
Once you’ve thinned the dough into a long sheet, cut it into manageable lengths. Liberally dust the surface with flour or cornstarch, then carefully fold the sheet up into a roll as shown in the image below. With a long sharp knife, carefully cut the sheet into noodles of any desired thickness. This method is easiest with thicker noodles (e.g. mee pok), but if you’re careful and you work with a good knife, you should be able to manage thinner noodles just fine.
Regardless of the cutting method you use, toss the finished noodles in a little flour or cornstarch and set them aside in loose bundles.
Storage
Ideally, you want to use the noodles right after making them. Realistically, the best thing to do is to cover them with plastic wrap and use within an hour or so. If you have extra noodles or you’re making them in advance, cover loose bundles with plastic wrap or place them in airtight bags and freeze them. Take care not to pack them too tightly when refrigerating or freezing, as they’ll stick together and form clumps. If you're making oil noodles, you can toss the finished noodles with a few teaspoons of cooking oil (or a lightly flavoured oil, if you want to go that way), then refrigerate or freeze.
Drying the noodles is another great option, assuming you have the setup. You can dry loose bundles of noodles in a dehydrator or very low oven. The noodles are done once they’re brittle and completely dry. Dried noodles will take longer to cook than fresh, so bear this in mind when working with them.
Fresh noodles will keep in the fridge for a day, and in the freezer for a couple of weeks. Dry noodles will keep for at least 6 months.
Cooking
Now for the really good stuff. Chinese egg noodles are fantastic in all kinds of dishes, but I particularly like them in stir-fries and soups, where their texture and richness are real boons. To prepare the noodles, bring a pot of unsalted water to a boil (Chinese noodles are already salted), add the noodles, and cook until soft but still dense and chewy (about 2-3 minutes). Drain the noodles and (optionally) rinse or dunk them in cold water to get rid of excess starch, then add them to soups, stir-fries, etc.
Bonus Recipe! Soy Sauce Fried Noodles
Alright, let's end this epic how-to with a simple little dish to test out your awesome new egg noodles, shall we? This recipe is my take on a classic and beloved simple noodle stir fry. As the name suggests, it's all about good noodles and good soy sauce. If you're looking to keep it super-simple, you can omit the egg too, and just use the sauce and green onions. It's a fantastic little side, and a perfect dish to go along with dumplings, barbecued pork, or a little wine chicken. It's also really good for eating out of a container in front of an open refrigerator at midnight - not that I speak from experience or anything.
I've written this recipe up in detail here, so feel free to check it out for more details and variations (including a look at what soy paste is). If you're looking to keep up to date on all of the recipes, guides, and features here on Diversivore, be sure to subscribe for email updates.
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp thick soy sauce (soy paste) or 1.5 tbsp light soy sauce mixed with 2 tsp corn starch
- 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
- 1/2 tbsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp sesame oil
- 2 tbsp oil
- 2 eggs, whisked
- One bunch of scallions, greens and whites separated and sliced into 4 cm (~2 inch) pieces
- 1 cm of ginger, sliced into thin strips
- 1 clove of garlic
- 4 servings of egg noodles, boiled and drained, but still warm
Instructions
- Combine the soy sauces, sugar, and sesame oil in a small bowl and set aside.
- Heat a wok (or large, heavy pan) over very high heat. Add 1 tbsp of oil and swirl the wok to cover the bottom.
- Add the eggs slowly to the wok, stirring quickly to yield small pieces of egg.
- Add the white portion of the scallions, ginger, and garlic to the wok and stir fry for about 1 minute, or until the scallions are tender
- Add the scallion greens to the wok along with half the sauce and stir-fry for about 30 seconds
- Remove everything from the wok, setting it aside in a bowl.
- Add the remaining oil. Allow the wok to heat back up.
- Add the noodles to the wok and stir fry for about 1 minute, stirring continuously.
- Add the egg and vegetables back to the wok. Add the remaining sauce and stir fry for an additional minute or so.
- Remove from heat and serve immediately.
As with all stir fries, the key to success is keeping things REALLY hot while keeping them moving in the pan. If you're looking for stir-frying tips, I've got a handy little guide to help you master it.
Note:Nutritional informations is given for one serving, which is approximately 55 g pre-cooked weight, or 1/12th of the total recipe.
Nutritional Summary
Ingredient Pages
No ingredient pages have been written yet for any of the ingredients in this recipe. Like to see one? Let me know in the comments below or by email.
Pantry Pages
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Homemade Chinese Egg Noodles
Ingredients
- 450 g high-gluten flour (e.g. bread flour) (~3 cups), plus extra for rolling/dusting - see note
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3 large eggs whisked
- 60 ml water (1/4 cup)
- 5 ml lye water (kansui) (1 tsp) see note for substitution or omission
Instructions
Dough
- In a large bowl, combine the flour and salt. Add the whisked eggs a little at a time, then add the water and lye water. Stir until the mixture is relatively well combined. Note that it should look quite dry.
- Use your hands to combine the ingredients in the bowl. Knead the dough until it forms a tight and smooth ball. Do NOT be tempted to over-moisten the dough by adding more water. While it is a drier mix, it should eventually come together.
- Cover the dough with plastic wrap and set aside to rest for 30 minutes.
- Flatten the dough out by pounding on it with a rolling pin for about 5 minutes (or even a small heavy pot, if need be). You're not trying to thin the dough so much as you're encouraging the formation of gluten. Once you're finished, form the dough back into a ball, cover with plastic wrap, and let stand for another 30 minutes.
- Before proceeding with either noodle-making method, cut the ball of dough in half (or even quarters). Set one half aside and re-cover with the plastic wrap, to be used after making the first batch of noodles.
Rolling Pin Method
- Use a rolling pin to progressively flatten the dough into a rather thin sheet (~3 mm thick). To encourage stretchier, chewier noodles, work with the natural direction of the dough - i.e. don't be afraid to let the dough roll out as an elongate rectangle, rather than trying to work it into a square.
- Dust the surface to the dough with flour, then fold it over on itself carefully to form a sort of roll with multiple layers (see photo above).
- Use a very sharp knife to cut the roll into strips of noodles. Hold the knife perpendicular to the cutting board and push down cleanly though the dough, rather than drawing the knife through in a slicing motion. Toss the noodles with a little extra flour and set them aside in loose bundles.
- Repeat with remaining dough portions.
Pasta Maker Method
- Cut the dough in half, or even in quarters. Cover the unused portions with plastic wrap and set aside.
- Feed the dough through the largest opening on a manual or electric pasta maker. Repeat on progressively smaller settings until the dough is about 3 mm thick (I found the #3 or middle setting worked best).
- Use the noodle cutting side/attachment to cut the dough into the desired size. Toss the noodles with a little extra flour or cornstarch and set them aside in loose bundles.
- Repeat with remaining dough portions.
Notes
Nutrition
More Chinese Recipes
Chinese Crispy Egg Rolls
Taiwanese Tea Eggs
Soy Sauce Noodles
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Comments
I make homemade pasta all of the time. Why haven’t I thought of making the noodles for our Thai and Chinese noodle recipes. There is so much information in this post — honestly, I have read it three times and I keep picking up something new. Ive printed this out and put it with my recipes to make the noodles myself the next time I make our own Chinese lo mein. 🙂
Noodle lover over here! As well as all the gluten…and eggs too! In fact, sign me up for everything you talked about. Wow! Such a thorough post. Kudos.
My dough turned slightly green in hue. Is it the lye interacting with the eggs? It tastes okay, but not visually appealing.
Hi Wendy! Sorry to hear about your colour situation. I’m making an educated guess that it is the eggs, though I’m not sure whether the lye is playing a role or not. Eggs can turn greenish when they cook due to a reaction between sulfur in the yolk and iron (generally from cooking in an iron pan, or from prolonged exposure to the hydrogen and iron in the whites). Did you by any chance cook the noodles in a cast iron pot? Higher cooking temperature seem to set this off a bit more. I don’t think that the lye would catalyze this reaction, nor should it create any other greenish compounds (that I’m aware of anyway), but I can’t say with absolute certainty. I would try a second batch with fresh eggs and a non-reactive (e.g. stainless steel) pot. Hopefully that works for you! If it doesn’t, do let me know – I’d be happy to trouble-shoot further!
It actually is the eggs reacting to the lye that causes the colour change. It has nothing to do with the vessel it’s made it or cooked in. This recipe is only different from a typical Italian egg pasta recipe in the sense of ratio of ingredients and the inclusion of lye water. I have been making egg noodles of all types since I was a child so I CAN with absolute certainty say it is the lye water. The same way lye transforms a regular egg into a black or dark green century egg over time, it has an effect on the raw egg in the recipe.
This is almost always avoidable if you refrigerate any unused dough within a certain time frame after making. Or if you intend to use it at the time you’re making it. If you leave this dough out at room temperature for more than about 3 hours you’ll notice the bright yellow hue begin to fade it a greyish-bluegreen colour. It doesn’t mean your dough is bad. It actually has an even eggier flavour. However as mentioned, it is not that aesthetically appealing and can cause a little worry. This dough is best when used withing 24 hours of making it storing any parts unused immediately in the fridge.
Maybe a higher ph water such as well water would make the difference. I on the other hand added dry green tea to my mix. So far so good !
Such a detailed post!!! I love the noodle photos and the egg photo. I’ve been making simple plain noodles at home quite a lot I think it’s time to advanced to egg noodles 😉
It looks super delicious. I still haven’t tried the lye water either, I know that’s the trick to super bouncy yummy noodles but I guess I’m just too lazy :p anyway LOVE LOVE LOVE this post.
Great recipe! Thank you so much for sharing. I made it many times and always turned out really good. I never had time to rest the dough like you suggested, but the texture still came out nice and chewy.
That’s awesome Sara! I’m so glad it worked out. Good to know that it worked well without the resting stage too.
This is an awesome post Sean :D.
Very meticulous and detail post on noodles and Chinese cultures (LOL… put me to shame 🙂 )
Top notch post as always, Sean! I absolutely have to make these for my noodle obsessed boyfriend. I will look on in envy as he eats them since I’m one of those sad, little people who can’t handle the gluten. The best part of cooking is cooking for others though, right? 😉 Thanks for sharing your wizardry with us!
Wow, now that’s a noodle guide! Your recipes always motivate me to get into my car and purchase items I do not have on the shelf or in the refrigerator! Thanks so much for sharing!
Hi Sean, love this post on noodles and as usual I am left with so much knowledge and learning. Being Italuan We are no strangers to homemade pasta. When I saw the pucture of the cut pasta it brought back memories of Nicoletta”s Nonna. She was known for her precise homemade hand cut fetuccine. When I think of the vision I am mesmerized as I watch and hear the sounds of pasta noodles being made and I find it very meditative which is a bonus for me! Now let”s get back to your stir fried noodles. This is how i like to do mine with the two kinds of soy and sesame oil. I love the crisky edges you get with a nice hot wok. It is simple but you get that nice flavor that is a great partner to some stir fry veggies and tofu! As usual Sean great work!
Have a great weekend and Happy Chinese New Year to you and your family!
Cheers! Loreto@Sugarlovespices
Would you use this recipe for dan dan noodles?
Hi Alisha! Dan Dan noodle recipes usually use a simple wheat-based noodle, rather than an egg noodle. That being said, I think they’d probably still taste great.
What a beautifully comprehensive, information post, Sean! As always, I come away from Diversivore feeling inspired — and a little smarter! 😉 Happy Chinese New Year!
Just made up a batch of yellow noodles. Instructions were perfect…just like noodles from the Asian shops! Just need to do a fried noodle dish and pack the balanceup in plastic bags.
Oh wonderful! So glad to hear that the recipe worked well for you Lulu! Thanks so much for taking time to leave a comment!
Oh, wow! This is so detailed and informative! I love that you are married into a different Asian culture. So am I. My mother-in-law is Japanese. I laughed out loud at the description of your children eating noodles 🙂 Oh, and don’t get me started on gluten! This post has a wealth of information and I applaud you for taking your time to write it and explain all the little science details. I totally did not know about noodles and lye water.
This looks so delicious! So informative and so artistic all at the time! Beautiful job 🙂
I have made pasta in the past, fettuccine I believe. This article reminds me how much I enjoyed making it. I didn’t know about the lye water, I’m going to keep an eye out for this. This article is inspiring me to grab my rolling pin and dive in. So much great info here about the Lundar New Year, thanks so much for this!
I knew that noodles originated in China, but I had no idea there were so many varieties and I’d never heard of using lye with them before. It’s fascinating. I wish I had been with you on the day you were making noodles to take notes. I’ve never actually tried to make them from scratch, but I know that the difference is immeasurable. Your detailed breakdowns of each component of the noodles and the characteristics of each ingredient are comprehensive and incredibly useful before undertaking this food project. You are like a food encyclopedia — move over Alton Brown — there’s a new master in town.
Oh my!! This looks like a FUN weekend experiment for sure. I love making homemade noodles (that is the Ukrainian in me). I have NEVER made Chinese noodles. This I need to try. Egg noodles are my favourite. You have me VERY intrigued for sure. You can never go wrong with a great noodle dish. HOMEMADE noodles are THE BEST!
I love this! Way back in the day, when I was a stay at home mom with time on my hands, one of my favorite things to do was make homemade pasta. I never thought about Chinese noodles, but maybe one of these days if I ever have time again…
I’m so impressed with how much information is in this post. I hope you share recipes for some of the other noodle types that you mention as well, that would be an amazing series. I am a huge fan of egg noodles, but never knew they were made with lye water. Now I really want to get some lye water to try this out with. Thanks for the wonderful read!
I love egg noodles! However, I’ve never actually made some myself, I usually just pick it up at the market. I have made pasta though and I feel like I can totally pull this off!
Excellent tutorial!! We make lots of pasta and you gave such a great explanation of the whole process. I remember my Italian parents never could understand why a bunny was used at Easter when it should have been chicks. The egg means rebirth so the chick represents it. And we could not cook without our scale. With the scale, the measurement is always spot on.
Great shots, Sean!
I had to chuckle at your comment on us bloggers being seasonally aware. Honestly, sometimes (most of the time) it’s to the point where you feel super limited because the pressure to be seasonal is real. And I mean, don’t get me wrong. Cooking seasonally is awesome and should be encouraged, because it also encourages people to source locally and purchase fresh ingredients. But! Sometimes I come up with an idea that I want to put out there so badly, and it just can’t happen because it seems so out of place at that time of year. And inspiration is at the mercy of what’s out, what’s fresh, etc. Not a bad thing, but dang. Seasonal produce is so controlling 😉
I love these noodles and I love the idea of making them homemade. I like using Yi Mein noodles in my Long Life Noodles. Maybe I should try making them from scratch next time. Either way, I’ll definitely be using this tutorial at some point soon!
Thanks, as always, for such an informational post. You don’t disappoint.
We make homemade pasta and dumpling wrappers all the time, but i have never made homemade noodles. This sounds amazing, and I love the tips on freezing or drying – I love making big batches ata time so I have some on hand when a craving hits, but I have never had much luck preserving pasta etc Will have to try out our dehydrator next time!
Just made this recipe without looking at the recipe but by reading your detailed account of noodle making! So happy with the results — thank you!
That makes me very happy to hear Lea! So glad my post was able to help you out, and I’m happy that the noodles worked out so well for you! Cheers!
I followed this recipe and it worked well. Now, I’m trying the method in this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndOnRB2kdoI&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR0a6ktbILqZTKRTwWnn7gNcKt2NCmaGSZbpLJ-3ALJowPqdnzAU-DZGJco
It says to not use it immediately but to age it 3 months! So I’m going to trying that. This allows the eggs in the noodles to ferment as well as get rid of some ingredient flavor. I also tried banging the dough flat with a small cast iron pot since I don’t have a long bamboo stick. I already can tell the difference in banging the noodles flat vs. the hand kneading.
Hi. I have tried this recipe several times and I love it every time! This is hands down the chewiest noodle I’ve made! Although the colour of my noodle doesn’t look as yellow as yours. I didn’t use lye water, I used the b soda subtitute instead. Is it because I heat the b soda on stove top pan and for less than an hour? Nevertheless the texture is so springy and bouncy, love it. Thank you so much for the recipe!
Thanks Fiska! The yellow colour can be a little bit variable depending on how richly coloured the egg yolks are, and on how well the alkaline substance (lye water or the baking soda alternative) interacts with the dough. The batch I photographed here admittedly did turn out very yellow! All that being said, if you’re getting a really good springy/bouncy texture, then you’re using the baking soda substitute right, so I wouldn’t worry about it too much! Thanks for commenting, and I’m so glad you’re loving the recipe!
So inspired by this amazing post, Thankyou! Who doesn’t love noodles and what better than homemade. Will try your recipe tomorrow night for my husband getting home from interstate, thin Chinese noodles with roast duck as a ramen style soup dish I’m thinking. I was wondering have you tried cooking these noodles in water with a good pinch of bi-carb? This has a similar effect as lye water in the dough. Have cooked regular dried spaghetti pasta this way and they do end up resembling ramen noodles.
Thank you Julie! You know, I haven’t tried that approach before – but come to think of it, I do remember being told a trick for making ramen-like noodles using spaghetti… I just couldn’t remember the trick! Thanks for reminding me. I’ll have to give it a try some time soon, and to see what the effect is on fresh noodles like these. Cheers!
Hi Sean, thanks for sharing this article and i learnt a lot from it esp the lye water. Was wondering that if i only wanted to use egg yolks, how many should i use to replace the egg white component?can you advise?
You’re welcome Margaret! That’s a tricky question to answer because the egg whites are chemically different from the yolks and do provide different proteins (etc.). That being said, in terms of pure numbers you can generally substitute two yolks for one whole egg, as the average egg is about 50:50 yolk/white. Unfortunately I can’t say for sure if the substitution will work exactly the way you want it to without trying it out… but I think your chances are pretty good. After all, there are plenty of Italian pastas made with just egg yolks, and they’re great. If you do give it a shot I’d love to hear how it goes!
Hi Sean, great informative site! I’m new here and want to try and make more of your recipes, I feel like I learned a lot about the noodles! I tried to make the noodles, but found them very hard. Partly because hand rolled n tried to cut as thin as I could. Do you think it needed more water. I did use lye water.
Hi Vic! Thanks for the compliments. Sorry your noodles turned out a bit hard – I think we can probably troubleshoot a bit. If the noodles were particularly hard it’s probably one of two things (or a combination of the two). First, yes it’s possible that the dough was too dry – you might want to shoot for something a bit wetter. Second, there’s a good chance that the dough was over-worked a bit, making it particularly tough. If the dough is kneaded or rolled a lot it will form more gluten. This is good for holding the noodles together and making them chewy, but it can become too much if it’s overdone. Try rolling out a smaller portion of your dough (maybe with a bit of extra water), getting it thin, but stopping if it feels like you’re rolling it too much. If the dough is snapping back to size after you’ve rolled it, you’ve probably gotten it as thin as you can, and you’re not going to do yourself any favours by continuing to roll it. I hope that helps a bit! If you find you’re still having trouble, let me know and we’ll see if we can figure out anything else to try.
This is a very helpful post Sean, especially the pictures, which make it easy to know what the end result of each cooking step should look like. I would like to add two suggestions:
(1) You can use Washing Soda (sodium carbonate), which is available in the UK (where I am) as well as in N. America (Arm & Hammer brand, washing soda is also sold in Walmart). Its either anhydrous, pure sodium carbonate, or, as sodium carbonate decahydrate crystals. If you spread the crystals on a plate and leave them for a few days, they lose water and turn into the anhydrous white powder form. You can use either form to make lye, just by making allowance for the weight of the water of crystallisation.
(2) You can lessen the laborous noodle cutting by using a pasta cutting rolling pin, such as this one: https://www.lehmans.com/product/handcrafted-cherry-noodle-cutter/ or these ones:
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=%22Noodle+Cutter+Rolling+Pin%22&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiYl-Pl1YHnAhU8QEEAHRCmA3gQ_AUoAnoECAsQBA&biw=1600&bih=736#imgrc=iigfyPTKOwFbKM:
But perhaps, if you are going to go for mechanical aids, then maybe a pasta machine is a better investment than a cutter rolling pin.
Thank you for all the wonderful recipes and advice! I made this recipe for egg noodles (I reduced it to 2/3 the amount to put in my Phillips Pasta Maker (minus lye water or baking soda) and they turned out wonderfully! I will use this recipe again and again as we eat lots of noodles (my hubby is Thai).
Cardboard disaster here, followed directions implicitly. Tried using this to make pan friend dumplings.
Wow, where did we go wrong. We once used an egg noodle recipe and they were the best dumplings ever; steamed in the pan then fried, chewy, soft, fantastic.
This recipe has a TON of flour (400+ grams) while many other egg recipes have FAR MORE EGG, often adding additional egg yolks.
Please help!
Hi Frank, sorry to hear about your problems – am I understanding you correctly when you say that you used the recipe to make dumpling skins? I’ve never modified this recipe for dumpling skins, so I can’t say exactly where it went wrong… but I will say that most dumpling skins don’t have any egg in them. The general practice is to roll out a rope of dough, cut into pieces, and to flatten the individual circles. I don’t know how this dough would respond to that kind of treatment. This is definitely a noodle recipe first and foremost.
The idea of adding more egg is a fine one in general, but of course that alone can’t explain tough dough – after all, egg-less dough is used to make all kinds of noodles and dumplings. I would try using a dumpling skin recipe, rather than a noodle recipe. I hope that works out better for you!
Hey man! Great site and great name btw! Listen, so I seem to be having the same oxidation issue as some above.. I have made alkaline noodles plenty before and egg based pasta as well, but never ran into issues as pervasive as this one. I wonder if it has to do with hard water and it’s reaction with the kansui/egg.. I tried switching up to filtered water and it seemed to slow the reaction down but it returned only a few hours later in the fridge. Also, neither batch was anywhere near as vibrant as yours pictured at any point in the process. My only resort is to try bottled water today. I’m curious if you are using organic eggs or just conventional? I was using organic. I know that lots of organic egg farming practices feed their birds yello-orange pigmented feed to aid in the yolks hue outcome..even chicken farmers do this to hue the bird’s muscle a deeper color. I know this is a stretch and things are generally if not always way simpler than these wild ideas but, I AM LOSING MY MIND with this greying out. Haha. Any help or suggestions would be great!
Thanks Sean.
Sincerely,
Sean.
Hey Sean! Great name yourself! Lol.
This oxidation thing is a tricky one. It’s not happened to me before! I’ve done quite a bit of research about this and all I get are the same answers over and over – yolks turning green is related to sulphur and iron compounds interacting during or after cooking. I’m still quite unsure about the effect of the lye water though. Hydrogen sulfide (H2S), which is greenish, actually forms more easily in an acidic environment, and tends to be converted to hydrosulfide (HS-) at higher pH. At least one ferrous sulfide (and possible others) is responsible for the greyish colour, but most experts say that one tends to become worse with overcooking, which I doubt is the case here. Still, if you’ve only encountered the issue in combination with eggs AND lye water, it would suggest something is going on! Perhaps something is catalyzing the iron reaction, or perhaps a different iron compound is forming (sodium iron sulfide is VERY green, but it tends to form in extremely alkaline environments [pH 11-13] so that seems unlikely). I can only guess that it has to do with your eggs, and the specific micro-nutrient profiles therein. It COULD be related to specific dietary elements in the organic feed, but there are so many factors at play that it would be difficult to disentangle them. Egg age may play a roll – older eggs will have absorbed more carbon dioxide into the white, and can be more alkaline. If the issue is indeed alkalinity with the lye water, older eggs might kick things too far in that direction.
I would recommend trying three things: 1) a different brand of eggs, 2) eggs that you can guarantee are particularly fresh, and 3) wrapping your dough TIGHTLY with plastic wrap (in case it’s an issue of oxygen reacting). If that still doesn’t work, you might also try reducing the lye water by half to see if it impacts the recipe. You might lose some texture, but if you see an improvement in your colour then you’ll know you’re on the right track.
To answer your question about eggs, I change up what I use pretty regularly, but I don’t use organic all that often. Coloured pigment compounds in chicken feed are a common feature in both conventional and organic egg production, but I don’t (yet) know what difference there might be. I’ve sent an email to my people at BC Egg to ask for guidance, and if they have any extra information I’ll pass it along.
Lastly, when it comes to the vibrancy of the yellow colour, the impact of the lye water does make a difference, but I think the bigger factor is 1) VERY orange egg yolks (if you can get them), and the flour. The 00 semolina flour I use has a light yellowish tinge to it that helps with the colour.
Anyway, that’s a lot to process, but if you still have trouble, let me know! I’ll keep trouble-shooting to the best of my abilities. Cheers!
Hi again Sean! Second follow-up: I’ve been informed that the general method for changing the hue of the egg yolk is to increase the amount of corn in the hen’s diet, or (less commonly) to use marigolds or a marigold extract. The only difference between organic and inorganic will be the sourcing of these ingredients (i.e. organic hens will get organic corn). That being said, organic free-range birds have access to the outdoors, which means they supplement their diet with bugs, worms, and whatever else they decide to eat. This means that the specific chemistry of an organic egg is going to be harder to generalize. I doubt that this would explain a pervasive problem with your dough turning grey, but still, it’s interesting information! Good luck with your experimenting!
I have chickens, hens rather, and feed them a supplemented organic diet with organic paprika powder, and organic tomato powder. It sticks especially well to the black soldier fly larvae treats they love so much, and makes their yolks quite a dark reddish color if I keep up the supplementation. You can use dark leafy greens and corn too, as they both love it and it’s healthy for them, but you won’t get darker, reddish yolks until you use a dark red supplement.
If you only have access to commercial eggs, the darkest yolks I found were in the Vital Farms Organic, but if you have chickens, or know someone who has them, buy them a few bags of organic paprika powder and organic tomato powder to add to the hens’ feed and treats, that’s how I make my girls’ eggs quite a dark reddish color..
I wonder how the beating contributes to the forming of gluten. And regardless, how I can get around it – I do have a pasta maker. I typically decide on needing to make these noodles either on a Sunday or in the middle of the night, both not good for beating the shit out of your dough for the neighbours’ sake.