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    Home » Recipes » Chinese noodles

    Biang Biang Mian (Biang Biang Noodles)

    Last Modified: March 23, 2023 by Elaine| 111 Comments

    Jump to Recipe

    Homemade think, wide belt noodles with a lovely method of pouring hot oil over chiles. This dish is named hot oil noodles- Biang Biang mian (Biang Biang noodles) is a very interesting and popular dish in Shaanxi province. And definitely, it was one of my favorite dishes during my four years of university life.

    biang biang noodles|chinasichuanfood.com

    Jump to
    • What is Biang Biang Noodles
    • Why it is called Biang Biang Noodles
    • The character "Biang"
    • About Shaanxi cuisine
    • The right type of flour
    • Rest the dough
    • Are biang biang noodles spicy?
    • Are biang biang noodles vegan?
    • Instructions
    • 🧾Recipe

    What is Biang Biang Noodles

    Biang Biang noodle (biangbiang noodle) is a hot noodle dish from Shaxi province, sometimes known as Xian noodles. The Chinese name for noodles is "main". So this noodle is also called Yo Po Mian in Chinese. Biang Biang noodle is made with wide, thick, belt noodles with a hot sauce with chili pepper, chopped scallion, chopped garlic, light soy sauce, and black vinegar.

    Why it is called Biang Biang Noodles

    Lots of Chinese dishes have very interesting names. You can judge the content based on the name for example Fuqi Fei Pian or mapo tofu.

    If you never tasted it or have little background information, the name might be weird to you. “Biang” actually is an Onomatopoeia word describing the sound when the noodles smash against the board (especially when smashing against the stainless steel board). So it is named after the sound of pulling the noodles against the board.

    If you ever visited Xi’an, you will find another wider hand-ripped noodles—belt noodles (known as KuDai main in Chinese). That particular word is trying to describe the appearance. Kudai or belt noodles are served with a dipping sauce instead of a hot sauce mixed before serving.

    biang biang noodles|chinasichuanfood.com

    The character "Biang"

    The word Biang is considered the most complicated Chinese character. People even draw up a pithy formula in order to write it correctly. In case you are curious about how it looks it. There are discussions about where it comes from.

    biang biang noodles|chinasichuanfood.com

    About Shaanxi cuisine

    Before we go to the recipe, Elaine wants to introduce Shaanxi cuisine slightly. Unlike Sichuan cuisine and Cantonese cuisine, Shaanxi dishes are less famous outside China. Even in Mainland China, lots of people have very little information about Shaanxi cuisine. However, Shaanxi cuisine is quite unique brand of Chinese cooking, which features flour with chili oil (with vinegar version), vinegar, and many local vegetables. In the beginning, the dishes look less impressive as they are neither so strong as Sichuan dishes, nor so delicate as Cantonese dishes, but you will fall in love after several attempts. Shaanxi province locates in the center of China and different dishes combine and impact each other here. My mom once said we have the most multifarious food in our college dining room after staying with me for several couples of weeks at my university. If you want to try more, check Liangpi cold skin noodles and Roujiamo (Chinese hamburger).

    biang biang noodles|chinasichuanfood.com

    The right type of flour

    All-purpose flour is the best type of flour to start with.

    Now, jump to this particular recipe—Biang Biang Mian. I recommend using all-purpose flour to make the dough and trying to use less water to form a tough dough. You may think high-gluten flour can make the noodles chewier. Ok, that envision is right. However, it is not easy for beginners to use high-gluten flour to make Biang Biang Mian as the gluten will make the smashing process even harder. And the noodle strips may shrink quickly after being pulled out.

    Rest the dough

    The key success of pulling the noodle is to rest the dough. The noodle can be easily stretched only after enough resting time. You need to rest the dough for 1 hour. You can also choose to rest longer. The dough can also be premade on the first day and placed in the fridge for resting.

    biang biang noodle|chinasichuanfood.com

    Are biang biang noodles spicy?

    Biang biang noodle is spicy but in an acceptable range. It is not overwhelmingly hot. The biang biang noodle has a hot, savory, and slightly sour taste.

    If you cannot eat too spicy food, try to use pepper flakes or powder less spicy! As we are pouring hot oil directly over the chili powders, the spicy taste will be motivated greatly.

    Are biang biang noodles vegan?

    Yes, it is vegan from the ingredient list.

    Instructions

    1. make the dough. I will recommend measuring the ingredients to get the best results.
    biang biang noodle|chinasichuanfood.com

    In a large bowl, mix salt with flour. And stir in water in batches. I usually add 135ml first and then see whether the dough is too tough to knead. Less water indicates a chewier taste. Grasp everything by hand and continue kneading the dough until smooth. Forcefully please or resort to a standard mixer. Cover with a plastic wrapper and rest for 20 minutes.

    biang biang noodle|chinasichuanfood.com

    Knead the dough again for several minutes until the surface is really smooth as I show in the video. Cover with plastic wrapper again and rest for another 15-20 minutes

    biang biang noodle|chinasichuanfood.com

    Prepare a plate and brush some vegetable oil on the surface. And then cut the noodle dough into halves and each half into 6 portions (as equal as possible and cover the other half with a plastic wrapper to avoid drying out ). So we will end up with 12 portions.

    biang biang noodle|chinasichuanfood.com

    Shape each one into a long log and brush the oil around. Cover with a plastic wrapper and let the noodle strip log rest for 1 hour.

    biang biang noodle|chinasichuanfood.com
    biang biang noodle|chinasichuanfood.com

    Take one portion out, flat it, and roll it out to a rectangle. Press the center with a chopstick so we can separate the noodles later. Hold the two ends of the noodle strip and smash it against the operating board. You can slightly stretch it during the smashing process. But do not hurry; slow down so that you will not break it.

    biang biang noodle|chinasichuanfood.com
    biang biang noodle|chinasichuanfood.com
    biang biang noodle|chinasichuanfood.com
    biang biang noodle|chinasichuanfood.com

    Separate the noodles along with the chop sticker trace.

    biang biang noodle|chinasichuanfood.com

    Now we get the wide, thick Chinese noodles.

    biang biang noodle|chinasichuanfood.com

    Cook the noodles

    Boil water in a pot and add noodles. If you feel they shrink, stretch each strip slightly. Bring the large pot to a boil.

    biang biang noodle|chinasichuanfood.com

    Add cold water once after it boils again.

    biang biang noodle|chinasichuanfood.com

    And then add green vegetables to the blanch. The whole process of cooking lasts for around 4 minutes. Transfer out to serving bowl.

    biang biang noodle|chinasichuanfood.com

    Assemble the noodle

    You need to heat the oil simultaneously with cooking the noodle. Heat up 2 tablespoons of cooking oil in a small pot until slightly smoky.

    Place garlic, green onion, and chili peppers on top and pour the hot oil over the noodles (mainly on the chili powders). Add soy sauce and vinegar and combine well.

    biang biang noodle|chinasichuanfood.com
    biang biang noodle|chinasichuanfood.com

    🧾Recipe

    biang biang noodles|chinasichuanfood.com

    Biang Biang Mian

    Elaine
    Biang Biang Mian (Hot Oil Noodle) - a very interesting and popular dish in Shaanxi province.
    5 from 24 votes
    Watch Video Print Recipe
    Prep Time 15 minutes mins
    Cook Time 1 hour hr
    Total Time 1 hour hr 15 minutes mins
    Course staple food
    Cuisine Chinese
    Servings 2
    Calories 759 kcal

    Ingredients
      

    Noodle dough

    • 300 g all-purpose flour , 2 cups
    • 2 g salt
    • 130 ml to 140ml water

    Assemble the noodles

    • 2 tablespoons chili powder+pinch of salt
    • 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
    • 2 tablespoons vinegar
    • 2 garlic clove , minced
    • 2 green onion , minced
    • green vegetable for blanching
    • 2 tablespoons vegetable cooking oil
    • oil for brushing

    Instructions

    To make the noodle dough

    • In a large bowl, mix salt with flour. And stir in water by batches. I usually add 130ml firstly and then see whether the dough is too tough to knead. Less water indicates a chewier taste. Grasp everything by hand and continue kneading the dough until smooth. Forcefully please or resort to a standard mixer. Cover with plastic wrapper and rest for 20 minutes.
    • Knead the dough again for several minutes until the surface is really smooth as I show in the video. Cover with plastic wrapper again and rest for another 15-20 minutes
    • Prepare a plate and brush some vegetable oil on surface. And then cut the noodle dough into halves and each half into 6 portions (as equal as possible and cover the other half with plastic wrapper to avoid drying out ). So we will end up with 12 portions. Shape each one into a long log and brush oil around. Cover with plastic wrapper and let the noodle strip log rest for 1 hour.
    • Take one portion out, flat it and roll out to a rectangle. Press the center with a chopstick so we can separate the noodles later. Hold the two ends of the noodle strip and smash it against the operating board. You can slightly stretch it during the smashing process. But do not hurry; slow down so that you will not break it.
    • And the separate the noodles along with the chop sticker trace.

    To cook and assemble the noodles

    • Boil water in pot and add noodles in. If you feel they shrink, stretch each strip slightly. Bring the large pot to boil.
    • Add cold water once after it boils again. And then add green vegetable to blanch. The whole process of cooking lasts for around 4 minutes. Transfer out to serving bowl.
    • In the mean time, heat up 2 tablespoons of cooking oil in a small pot until slightly smoky.
    • Place garlic, green onion and chili peppers on top and pour the hot oil over the noodles (mainly on the chili powders). Add soy sauce and vinegar and combine well.

    Video

    Nutrition

    Calories: 759kcalCarbohydrates: 122gProtein: 19gFat: 21gSaturated Fat: 12gSodium: 1534mgPotassium: 374mgFiber: 7gSugar: 1gVitamin A: 2675IUVitamin C: 3.1mgCalcium: 58mgIron: 8.8mg
    Keyword noodles
    Tried this recipe?Mention @ChinaSichuanFood
    biang biang noodle|chinasichuanfood.com

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      Hot Oyster Noodles
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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Tim

      May 24, 2022 at 7:36 am

      What non-spicy toppings do you recommend? Sorry, I am wimp when comes to spice.

      Reply
      • Elaine

        May 25, 2022 at 7:59 am

        Tim,
        If you want this to be a Biang Biang noodle, then the chili powder is a must. However you can try to match it with other toppings like this tomato and egg.

        Reply
    2. Monica

      April 15, 2023 at 8:55 am

      Hi Elaine, can you recommend a good chili powder brand for this dish? thank you!

      Reply
      • Elaine

        April 18, 2023 at 9:44 am

        Monica, I love to mix gochugaru with some other spicy powder to get both the flavor and the prefect color.

        Reply
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