Shanxi Knife-Cut Noodles with Tomato and Pork

Ingredients

• 500g wheat flour (12% protein)
• 225ml cold water
• 5g fine salt
• 300g pork shoulder, minced or hand-chopped
• 5 ripe tomatoes (about 600g)
• 1 onion, finely diced
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tbsp minced ginger
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 2 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
• 1 tsp dark soy sauce
• 1 tsp sugar
• 3 tbsp neutral oil
• 2 tbsp Chinese black vinegar
• 2 spring onions, sliced
• Salt and white pepper

Before you cook

• Mix the flour and salt, add the cold water, and work it into a very firm dough that feels almost too dry.
• Knead for 12 minutes, then wrap and rest the dough for 1 hour, which softens it just enough to shave.
• Score a cross in the base of each tomato, cover with boiling water for 30 seconds, then slip off the skins and chop roughly.
• Combine the pork with the Shaoxing wine and a pinch of white pepper.

Steps

1. Heat the oil in a wok over medium-high heat until it shimmers.
2. Add the pork and press it flat, letting it brown for 2 minutes before breaking it up.
3. Stir in the onion, garlic and ginger and cook for 3 minutes until the onion turns translucent.
4. Push the meat aside and fry the tomato paste in the bare oil for 1 minute to darken it.
5. Tip in the chopped tomatoes and stir everything together.
6. Add the light soy, dark soy and sugar, then turn the heat down to a simmer.
7. Cook the sauce uncovered for 25 minutes, stirring now and then, until the tomatoes collapse into a thick red gravy.
8. Taste the sauce and adjust with salt and a little more sugar if the tomatoes are sharp.
9. Bring a very large pot of water to a hard rolling boil.
10. Shape the rested dough into a loaf about 20cm long and hold it on your forearm or a board at the edge of the pot.
11. Hold a sharp thin-bladed knife almost flat against the dough and shave off a long ribbon, flicking it into the water.
12. Keep shaving in a steady rhythm, working down the length of the block, until all the dough is in the pot.
13. Stir the noodles once so they do not stick to the bottom.
14. Boil for 3 to 4 minutes, until the thick spine of a noodle is cooked through with no chalky centre.
15. Drain the noodles and divide them between four bowls.
16. Ladle the tomato pork sauce generously over each portion.
17. Splash black vinegar over the top and scatter with spring onion before serving.