Lanzhou Beef Noodle Soup

Ingredients

• 1.2kg beef leg bones, sawn into pieces
• 800g beef shin, in two large pieces
• 1 large daikon radish (about 400g)
• 2 star anise
• 1 small cinnamon stick
• 4 bay leaves
• 2 tsp fennel seeds
• 1 tsp Sichuan peppercorns
• 6 slices fresh ginger
• 2 spring onions, halved
• 1 tbsp salt, plus more to taste
• 500g wheat flour (12% protein)
• 255ml cold water
• 6g fine salt (for the dough)
• 1 tsp baking soda dissolved in 2 tbsp warm water
• 4 tbsp chilli oil with sediment
• 1 large handful coriander, chopped
• 3 spring onions, finely sliced (to serve)
• 1 tbsp Chinese black vinegar (optional, at the table)

Before you cook

• Soak the beef bones and shin in cold water for 2 hours, changing the water twice, until the water runs pale.
• Tie the star anise, cinnamon, bay leaves, fennel seeds and Sichuan peppercorns into a square of muslin.
• Peel the daikon and cut it into coins about 3mm thick.
• Mix the flour and 6g salt in a large bowl, pour in the cold water, and bring it together into a shaggy mass.
• Knead the dough for 10 minutes until smooth, cover, and rest it for 1 hour at room temperature.

Steps

1. Put the drained bones and shin in your largest pot, cover with cold water by 5cm, and set it over high heat.
2. Bring the pot to a boil and skim off every bit of grey foam that rises, which takes about 10 minutes of patient attention.
3. Lower the heat until the surface barely trembles, because a rolling boil is what turns the broth cloudy.
4. Add the spice bag, ginger slices and halved spring onions to the pot.
5. Simmer uncovered for 90 minutes, then lift out the shin pieces and set them on a plate to cool.
6. Keep simmering the bones for another 2 hours, skimming the surface every half hour.
7. Strain the broth through a fine sieve into a clean pot and discard the bones and spice bag.
8. Season the broth with the tablespoon of salt, tasting as you go until it is savoury but still light.
9. Drop the daikon coins into the broth and simmer for 12 minutes until translucent at the edge but still white.
10. Slice the cooled beef shin across the grain as thinly as you can manage.
11. Uncover the rested dough and knead in the baking soda water, working it in until the dough is smooth and noticeably stretchy.
12. Rest the dough a further 30 minutes, covered, so the gluten relaxes enough to pull.
13. Divide the dough into 8 pieces and roll each into a rope about 20cm long.
14. Hold one rope by both ends, stretch it to arm's width, fold it in half, and twist the loop back on itself.
15. Repeat that stretch and fold six or seven times, dusting lightly with flour, until you have a bundle of thin noodles.
16. Pull the bundle open, snap off the closed loop at the end, and drop the noodles straight into a large pot of boiling water.
17. Boil the noodles for 60 to 90 seconds, until they float and taste cooked through with a little chew.
18. Lift the noodles out with a spider and divide them between four deep bowls.
19. Ladle the hot clear broth over the noodles until they are just submerged.
20. Lay the sliced beef and daikon coins over the top.
21. Spoon a tablespoon of chilli oil onto each bowl and scatter over the coriander and spring onion.
22. Serve at once, with black vinegar on the table for anyone who wants it.