Step 1

Mix flour with salt. Add half of the water and start mixing. The dough will feel very dry at first. Gradually add water and keep mixing. For my case, even after I added all the water, the dough is still a bit at a dry side and there are still loose flour bits, but don't be tempted to add more water just yet. Keep kneading and try to knead into a rough dough ball. If it's still won't come together, add 1 Tbsp of water and knead again. This was all the water I need. The dough is very rough and at a dry side, but as long as it can comes together into one dough ball, don't add anymore water

Step 2

Cover and let this very shaggy dough rest for 20 minutes. This is the first rest and is called as an "autolyse" method. A short autolyse. The water and flour are doing their magic work here and you'll be surprised by the result in just 20 minutes

Step 3

After 20 minutes, uncover and give the dough a few kneads and you'll be surprised by how smooth the dough has become now and it's no longer dry too. Remember that shaggy dough earlier? Gotta love autolyse!

Step 4

After a few kneads and the dough is all smooth. Cover it again for second rest, about 30 minutes. This is the last rest actually, in case you are wondering ;)

Step 5

Put all ingredients for the sauce in a heat-proof bowl, except for the 5 tablespoons of oil. It has to be heat-proof because we will be pouring hot oil over the ingredients later

Step 6

Heat up the 5 tablespoon of oil on a pan until you start seeing smoke rising. Turn off the heat and make sure no one is near by (especially kids) and immediately pour this hot oil over the ingredients and they will sizzle quite a bit but will settle down. Set it aside to let it cools down. Have a taste and adjust to your preference. The sauce can be kept in the fridge for up to one week

Step 7

Knead the dough for a few times and you will notice that the dough is even smoother and flexible by now. Divide the dough into two. work with one at a time and keep the rest covered so it won't dry out

Step 8

Dust your work surface with flour. Dust the dough surface and rolling pin with some flour too. Roll it out into about 1 inch thick

Step 9

Bring a large pot of water to a boil while cutting the noodles. Use a very sharp knife (preferably a cleaver) to cut on the dough, into about 1/8-inch thick (about 3 mm). You can cut on the long or short side of the dough. The noodles won't be as long as regular noodles. Sprinkle and toss with some flour generously to prevent the noodle strands from sticking to each other

Step 10

Once you are done, you can proceed with the second dough or wrap it well and keep it in the fridge for 2-3 days. Then let it come to room temperature for about 30 minutes before you plan to start cutting the noodles

Step 11

Add the noodles to the boiling water. Stir once to prevent the noodles from sticking, but don't stir too much so you won't break the noodles into tiny pieces. Let them cook for about 1 to 1 1/2 minutes. They don't take long to cook

Step 12

Remove the noodles from the pot into a heat-proof colander. Drain off all cooking water and refresh the noodles with clean water. This is to stop the cooking process

Step 13

The noodles can be served with soup, toss with a sauce, or use them to make stir-fried noodles

Step 14

Recommended: You can portion the noodles out into serving bowl and toss with about 2-3 tablespoon of the sauce or to your taste.

Step 15

If you are quite certain that you won't have leftover, you can also toss all the noodles you cook with the sauce in a big batch and then portion out for individual serving

Step 16

Garnish with chopped green onion and fresh cilantro leaves if you want