Pagu is in the heart of Cambridge featuring innovative Japanese & Spanish tapas. At the helm is three-time James Beard nominated chef/owner Tracy Chang whose philosophy is that good food goes beyond cooking, capturing warmth, laughter and the love you feel as you share a meal with family and friends. In this episode of the Chef’s Pantry, Anna learns that firsthand as she takes a private cooking class and learns chef Chang’s secret to hand-pulled noodles and how you can do it at home.
INGREDIENTS:
- 500 gr All Purpose flour
- 300 gr water, room temp
- 0.5 tsp sea salt
- 10 gr neutral oil, e.g. Vegetable, canola, avocado, grapeseed
PREPARATION:
- In a bowl or stand mixer with dough hook, mix flour, water, sea salt until it resembles a smooth ball.
- This can be 2-3 min on medium speed in a machine, or 5 min by hand.
- Add the oil to coat the dough. Press down into a disc.
- Cover with plastic wrap touching the dough and allow to rest 30 min to 1 hour.
- Refrigerate or freeze if you are not using it immediately.
- To stretch, gently remove the dough and use at room temperature.
- Put a large pot of water to boil on high heat.
- Coat the smooth, clean work surface with some extra neutral oil as well as the dough so it doesn't dry out.
- The oil, as well as room temp dough around 70f will allow the dough to be more extensible.
- Press the dough into an evenly thick rectangle, 8" x 12"
- Use a pastry cutter to portion evenly 8 strips, 2" x 6"
- Press down on each strip to flatten, then holding the ends between thumb and forefinger, stretch out to your wingspan.
- Press the extended noodle onto your work surface. Repeat with other noodles before cooking.
- Pnce all the noodles are ready and stretched out, drop them one by one into the boiling water.
- Cook in boiling water 1.5-2 minutes until al dente and toothsome.
- Serve with sauce, chili crisp and protein like braised, pulled pork
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For the Noodle Sauce:
INGREDIENTS:
- 500 gr shiitake dashi
- 200 gr tamari
- 50 gr sherry vinegar
- 20 gr sesame oil
- To plate:
- 400 gr biang biang noodles
- 5 gr sichuan peppercorns, toasted, crushed, fine
- 10 gr chili crisp
- 30 gr carnitas or braised, pulled pork, or sauteed mushrooms
- 1 teaspoon fried shallots
- 1 teaspoon fried garlic
- 1 tablespoon scallion, sliced into thin rings
PREPARATION:
- In a quart, mix sherry vinegar, soy, shiitake dashi and sesame oil. This is the liquid to toss the noodles in.
- To plate, toss noodles with 30 grams of sauce.
- Top with chili crisp, Sichuan peppercorns, braised pork and/or sauteed mushrooms, fried shallots, fried garlic, scallion.
- Serve hot and enjoy.
