Thursday 14 January 2021

OTTOLENGHI'S HOMEMADE BIANG BIANG NOODLES WITH CHILLI OIL & TAHINI SOYA SAUCE

 

This is not a recipe to make in a rush. It will take a good afternoon to prep, some nerve wrecking minutes to pull the noodles and most likely a lengthy visit to a well stocked supermarket to find some of the more unusual ingredients used by Ottolenghi in this belter of a recipe BUT trust me on this one, it's totally worth the effort, especially as you end having made and hand-pulled (!) your own noodles! 

Instructions and the length of the ingredients list may sound daunting but actually it's all very doable if you go step by step and WOW the final bowl of noodles is a simple flavour explosion - silky noodles, the most incredible homemade chilli oil and a banger of a tahini soya sauce, it's a dish you won't forget in a hurry and which you would easily devour without a question at one of Ottolenghi's famous restaurants.

Your noodles do not have to end up looking perfect to taste the part but I actually didn't find making them too hard after watching this little tutorial video by a recipe developer at Ottolenghi and overall I found the whole process of creating these noodles from just flour, water and salt incredibly fascinating!

Admittedly, without the time we are forced to have on our hands right now I probably would have never tried making this but I am so glad I dared to approach a recipe that no doubt intimidated me a little because the end result was so, so good! 

Give this a go, I promise you will nail it.

Serves 2

INGREDIENTS


FOR THE NOODLES
  • 300g plain flour
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 150g water (measure the water rather than trust liquid measurement, it's about being precise here)

FOR THE CHILLI OIL
  • 150ml sunflower oil
  • 1 banana shallot, peeled and finely chopped 
  • 2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
  • 10g fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated
  • ½ red chilli, finely chopped
  • 1 whole star anise
  • 1 tbsp red bell pepper flakes
  • 1 tsp chilli flakes
  • 1½ tsp Szechuan peppercorns, roughly crushed (got these at Waitrose)
  • 1½ tsp tomato paste
  • 1 tsp black sesame seeds
  • 1 tsp sesame seeds
  • Salt

FOR THE TAHINI & SOYA SAUCE

  • 60g tahini (mixed very well, to combine the solids and fat)
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1½ tbsp maple syrup
  • 1½ tbsp rice vinegar
  • 1 tbsp water

TO SERVE
  • 2 spring onions, trimmed and julienned
  • ½ large cucumber, halved lengthways, seeds scooped out and discarded, flesh cut into 1½cm dice
  • 1½ tbsp sesame seeds, toasted


METHOD
  • For the noodles, mix the flour and salt in a bowl, then very slowly pour in the water, stirring with a chopstick the whole time, until the mix comes together into a dough – it will look on the dry side once all the water has been added, but don’t be tempted to add any more.
  • Transfer to a work surface and knead for about five minutes, until the dough comes together into a shaggy ball. 
  • You’ll need to use some muscle here, because it will be quite tough. 
  • Cover with a tea towel and leave to rest for 10 minutes.
  • After the dough has rested, knead again vigorously for 10 minutes, until it’s very smooth: it should by now have the texture of Play-Doh and, if you poke it, the indentation should remain, rather than spring back. Cover again with a tea towel and rest for another 10 minutes.
  • Grease a big plate with plenty of vegetable oil. 
  • Cut the dough into eight equal pieces of about 55g each, then roll each piece into a sausage and place on the greased plate. 
  • Cover with cling-film and leave to rest at room temperature for two to three hours.
  • Meanwhile, make the chilli oil. 
  • Heat two tablespoons of sunflower oil in a small saucepan on a medium-high heat, add the next eight ingredients and a quarter-teaspoon of salt, turn down the heat to medium and fry very gently for five minutes, stirring often, until the shallot is soft. 
  • Add the tomato paste and all the sesame seeds, and cook for another two minutes. 
  • Stir in the remaining 120ml oil, reduce the heat to low and simmer very gently for 20 minutes – if the oil starts to bubble at all, take it off the heat for a minute, to cool down. 
  • Turn off the heat and leave to cool and infuse for at least an hour.
  • For the tahini soy sauce, whisk all the ingredients in a bowl until very smooth.
  • Once the dough has rested, flatten each sausage into a rectangle: grease a work surface, then, working with one piece at a time, use a rolling pin to roll the dough sausage into a 16cm x 8cm rectangle. Use a chopstick to make an indent across the middle of the rectangle - this will be your “ripping line” later. Repeat with the other seven dough sausages, then leave to rest for 10 minutes.
  • Put a large spoonful each of the numbing oil and tahini soy sauce into two serving bowls and put to one side.
  • Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. 
  • Meanwhile, and again working with one piece of dough at a time, take both ends of the dough rectangle between your thumb and fingers of each hand, and start to pull slowly and gently, until you feel there is no more tension left. 
  • Still holding both ends, slap the noodle down on the work surface about five times, gently stretching it out more as you go.
  • Lower the now stretched noodle on to the work surface, then, using the indent you made earlier, tear it in half lengthways to form a large, closed loop. 
  • Drop the noodle straight into the pan of boiling water, and cook for about a minute, or until it floats to the top.
  • Repeat with the remaining pieces of dough, adding them to the water as they’re stretched and ripped. Drain the cooked noodles well, then transfer them to the serving bowls.
  • Use chopsticks to mix the noodles with the oil and sauces, adding more of each to taste. 
  • Top with the spring onion, cucumber and sesame seeds, and serve with more soy sauce drizzled on top.

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