Qiaomian Héle

the chewy grey-brown buckwheat noodles of the North Chinese loess country, pressed straight into boiling water through a perforated press and served in a rich bone broth with chilli, vinegar, and pickles

Origin: China (Shanxi)

From the journey of Buckwheat.

On the thin, dry loess soils of Shanxi and Shaanxi, where wheat is a luxury and buckwheat a reliable second grain, the noodle took a peculiar and ingenious form. Buckwheat flour carries no gluten and so cannot be stretched, pulled, or hand-cut like wheat dough; the cooks of the north got round this by pressing it. A stiff buckwheat dough is loaded into the barrel of a heavy wooden or iron press, the héle床, set over a bubbling cauldron, and forced through the perforated base directly into the boiling water, where it falls in long, round, chewy strands. Héle (饸饹) is one of the oldest and most characteristic noodle forms of the Chinese north, a true food of the highland poor raised to a regional institution, served in a deep, savoury broth or tossed with the sharp, hot, vinegary seasonings that the Shanxi table loves above all others. This version gives the home cook a way to the same result without the great press, working the dough through a sturdy potato ricer or a coarse colander.

Ingredients

The Noodles

  • 300 g buckwheat flour
  • 100 g strong wheat flour (to help bind)
  • 0.5 tsp salt
  • 250 ml just-boiled water, plus a little more as needed

The Broth

  • 1.5 litres rich pork or beef bone broth
  • 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
  • 1 tbsp light soy sauce
  • salt and white pepper, to taste

To Serve

  • 2 tbsp Shanxi mature vinegar (or Chinkiang black vinegar)
  • 2 tbsp chilli oil with sediment
  • 3 spring onions, finely sliced
  • 4 tbsp chopped preserved mustard greens or pickled vegetables
  • 1 small bunch coriander, roughly chopped

Method

  1. Whisk the buckwheat flour, wheat flour, and salt together. Pour in the just-boiled water in a steady stream, stirring with chopsticks, then bring the dough together and knead for several minutes into a firm, smooth, slightly stiff dough. Add a little more hot water only if it will not come together. Cover and rest for 20 minutes.
  2. Bring the broth to a simmer with the garlic and soy sauce, and season well with salt and white pepper. Keep it hot. Bring a separate large pot of water to a rolling boil for cooking the noodles.
  3. Working in batches, load the dough into a héle press, a sturdy potato ricer, or a metal colander with round holes set over the boiling water, and press it through so the noodles fall directly into the pot. Cook each batch for 2 to 3 minutes, until they float and are tender but still chewy, then lift out with a spider.
  4. Divide the hot noodles between deep bowls and ladle over the simmering broth.
  5. Finish each bowl with a good spoonful of Shanxi vinegar and chilli oil, a scatter of spring onion, preserved mustard greens, and coriander, and serve at once, letting each eater adjust the sourness and heat.

Notes

A vegetarian broth of soaked dried shiitake, ginger, and spring onion stands in very well for the bone broth. The noodles can also be served 'dry' (gan ban), tossed with the vinegar, chilli oil, garlic, and pickles and no broth at all, in the Shanxi street manner. Buckwheat noodles are best eaten the moment they are made; they do not keep or reheat happily.

The Gastrographer

The Gastrographer

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