CUTTING IT FINE
JANE LYONS & WILL BOWMAN CELEBRATE THE VERSATILITY OF NOODLES ACROSS DIFFERENT CULTURES.
Jane Lyons and Will Bowman explore the versatile world of noodles
I HAVE A FASCINATION for, and healthy addiction to, noodles. In their many guises they provide endless opportunities for discovery, as well as a tasty textural vehicle for whatever ingredients the season and your location permit.
Two recent trips – one through Vietnam and the other through Italy, Greece and home via Hong Kong – provided a lot of noodle inspiration for us, but equally so did our time in Auckland. It’s a city with such beautiful multi-culturalism – you could spend years exploring and learning from the massive variety of cuisines it has to offer and it’s something that everyone living there should do! For us, a particular love affair flourished with the Xi’an-style hand-pulled noodles – usually topped with something spicy and umami-rich.
And the cold noodle dishes? Don’t knock them until you try them. You won’t find a more refreshing lunch than the ramen noodles, with their satisfyingly firm bite, sitting in a cool and flavourful broth of the season’s freshest tomatoes.
We hope you enjoy the process of making each of these noodles – they are a truly satisfying thing to create from scratch. Get creative with their sauces/toppings/broths, too – work with what’s in your garden or at the farmers' market. Your options are limitless, because as they say, "How long is a piece of noodle?"
BIBIM GUKSU (COLD WHEAT NOODLES WITH SPICY SAUCE, KIMCHI & EGG) SERVES 4 / PREPARATION 15 MINUTES PLUS 30 MINUTES RESTING / COOKING 10 MINUTES FOR THE NOODLES
300g flour
2 tablespoons sesame oil 3g salt 140ml water
Sift the flour into a large bowl. Stir in the sesame oil and salt. Make a well in the centre and gradually add the water, stirring to create a dough. Tip the dough onto a floured surface and knead for 10 minutes then set aside, covered with a damp cloth, for 20-30 minutes.
Once rested, use a pasta roller or rolling pin to roll the dough until approx 3mm thick, then either use a sharp knife or pasta roller to cut the dough into fine noodles. Cook in a pot of boiling water for 30-40 seconds.
FOR THE SAUCE & TO SERVE
3 tablespoons fish sauce
4 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
3 tablespoons gochujang paste
2 organic eggs
½ cucumber, thinly sliced
½ cup kimchi, roughly chopped
3 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds, to serve
Whisk the fish sauce, vinegar and gochujang paste together in a small jug. Divide the cooked noodles between four bowls and pour over the sauce mixture equally. Toss the noodles to coat them with sauce.
Boil the eggs for 6 minutes then transfer to iced water for 5 minutes. Peel and slice in half.
Serve the noodles topped with cucumber, kimchi, half an egg and a sprinkle of sesame seeds.