Cumin beef biang biang noodles

1. 1

   To make the noodle dough, put the plain flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Gradually add 135ml of room temperature water, mixing with your hands or chopsticks until a shaggy dough forms.

2. 2

   Once the dough has formed into a ball, knead it for 5 minutes. Put it back into the bowl, cover and let it rest for 15 minutes, then continue to knead for another 10 minutes, or until the surface of the dough is smooth and elastic.

   30 min

3. 3

   Roll out the dough and portion out 6 pieces into log shapes. Coat the dough pieces in vegetable oil, place them on a plate and cover with cling film. Leave to rest for an hour.

   60 min

4. 4

   For the beef, combine the beef mince with the oyster sauce, soy sauce, rice wine, ground cumin, cornflour and white pepper in a bowl. Mix together and leave to marinate for at least 20 minutes.

   20 min

5. 5

   In a pan over medium-high heat, add 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil, then add the sliced red onion and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes, or until softened. Add the garlic and ginger and fry until fragrant, then add the remaining vegetable oil and the marinated beef. Stir-fry for 3-5 minutes until cooked through. Set aside.

   7 min

6. 6

   To ‘biang’ the noodles, take one dough piece and flatten it with your hand or rolling pin. Using the back of a knife or chopstick, make a horizontal indent along the centre of the dough. Take both sides of the dough, gently pull, and smack against the counter a few times while stretching.

7. 7

   With a few slaps, the dough should stretch to around 60cm/24in long. Pull the noodles apart lengthwise from the indent you made to create thinner noodles.

8. 8

   Boil a pot of water and cook all the noodle pieces in the water for around a minute (longer if the noodles are thicker than usual). The noodles are ready when they float. Add the bok choi to the pot 30 seconds before the end of the noodle cooking time. Drain the noodles and bok choi.

   1 min

9. 9

   In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, add the vegetable oil and heat for 2-3 minutes. To check if the oil is hot enough, insert a wooden skewer or chopstick into the oil; if bubbles form steadily around it, the oil is hot enough.

   3 min

10. 10

    Divide the noodles, bok choi, and cooked beef into heatproof serving bowls. Top with chopped spring onion, garlic, chilli powder, Sichuan peppercorn powder, cumin, coriander, and salt.

11. 11

    Pour the hot oil directly over these toppings.

12. 12

    Divide the light soy sauce, black vinegar, and crispy chilli oil between the bowls, followed by the toasted sesame seeds. Toss, mix the noodles well, and enjoy!

1 serving ≈ 445 g

Nutrition values are estimates. - means data is unavailable.