Chinese spicy Biang Biang hand pulled noodles (vegan)

Biang Biang noodles are these large stretched out noodles served in hot chili oil. They are easier to make than it seems and really don't have to look perfect, remember its handmade! You can make them quite large and thick at first, and once you get the hang of it you can stretch them out thinner.

Here's what you need for about 4 servings :

- 200 g / 1 2/3 cup plain flour

- 100 g / 1/2 cup / 100 ml lukewarm water

- A pinch of salt

- 2 baby bok choy

- Some green onions

- Peanuts, about 1 tbsp of crushed peanuts per serving

- Chili Flakes, I put about half a teaspoon per serving but it really depends on how spicy you like your food

- Garlic, you can use the flakes or the cloves

- Soy Sauce, about 2 tbsp per serving

- Dark Chinese vinegar, 1 tsp per serving

- Chili oil or any vegetable oil, about 1 1/2 tbsp per serving

- Some extra oil to grease the dough

You will also need :

- A rolling pin or anything else you have at home to flatten the dough, like a wine bottle

- A Chopstick or a brochette bamboo skewer (optional)

- A large plate or food container, I personally use a lasagna baking dish

- A cloth

• Mix the flour and the salt in a bowl.

• Add the water little by little until everything is just combined.

• Knead the dough by hand for about 5 mins.

• Cut the dough into 4 equal pieces and roll them out with your hands to create small logs.

• Grease your plate with vegetable oil, place in the dough logs and grease them with some oil to prevent them from forming a crust. Cover the plate with your cloth and let it rest for 2 hours.

• While the dough is resting start preparing your garnish.

• Crush your peanuts.

• Rinse and chop the green onion.

• If you are using garlic cloves and not flakes then you should peel, crush & chop them. To crush your garlic, put the clove on your chopping board, take a large big kitchen knife, put the flat part on the cloves and crush it with your hand. I used flakes in the picture.

• Rinse your baby bok choys, cut off the stems and then cut them in two, lengthwise. Blanch them by cooking them in hot salted boiling water for one minute.

• Once the dough is rested bring some salted water to a boil. It's important to do this first so that once your noodles are ready you can cook them right away.

• Flatten the logs with the rolling pin to shape them into a rectangle. As I said earlier, it doesn't have to be perfectly shaped!

• Take a stick or use the back of your knife and press in the middle of the rectangle.

• Take each side of the rectangle with your hand and start stretching. Smack the noodles on your working surface a few times.

• Take the middle of the noodle and split the noodle in two. You should end up with two long noodles.

• Put them into the water right away and boil them for about 1 min. If your noodles are a little thick just leave them a little longer.

• Take the noodles out with a spider skimmer or any skimmer you have at home, just keep the water as you will have to reproduce the same method for each portion of the leftover dough. Cool down the noodles under cold water to stop the cooking process.

• Place your noodles in a bowl. Add the soy sauce and the dark Chinese vinegar.

• Add the bok choy, peanuts, green onion, garlic, sesame seeds and chili flakes to the noodles.

• Heat up the oil in a small pot or pan, and pour it on the noodles. Mix everything together in the bowl, I do it with chopsticks but you don't have to. Eat it while it's hot!

ENJOY!