Tian Shui Mian (Chengdu Sweet Water Noodles)

Ingredients

• 300g plain flour
• 150ml water
• 1 tsp fine salt
• 2 tbsp rapeseed oil, for coating
• 120ml light soy sauce
• 60g dark brown sugar
• 1 star anise
• 1 small piece cassia bark
• 2 slices ginger
• 1 spring onion
• 6 garlic cloves
• 5 tbsp Sichuan chilli oil, with sediment
• 2 tbsp Chinese sesame paste
• 1 tsp ground roasted Sichuan pepper
• 3 tbsp roasted peanuts, crushed

Before you cook

• Mix the flour with the salt and the water to a stiff, shaggy dough, then knead it for 10 minutes until smooth.
• Cover the dough and let it rest for 30 minutes.
• Pound the garlic to a paste and stir in 4 tablespoons of cold water.

Steps

1. Combine the light soy sauce, brown sugar, star anise, cassia bark, ginger and spring onion in a small pan.
2. Bring it to a simmer and cook gently for 10 minutes, until it thickens slightly and smells of caramel.
3. Strain this aromatic soy sauce and leave it to cool.
4. Roll the rested dough out to a rectangle about 1cm thick.
5. Brush the surface generously with oil so the strips will not stick together.
6. Cut the sheet into strips 1cm wide.
7. Take a strip and stretch it between your hands until it is about as thick as a pencil.
8. Lay the stretched noodles on an oiled tray and cover them.
9. Bring a large pan of water to a rolling boil.
10. Drop the noodles in a few at a time, stirring so they do not clump.
11. Boil them for 7 minutes, then test one: it should be soft outside and still springy in the middle.
12. Drain the noodles and rinse them under cold water until they are cool.
13. Toss them with a little oil so they stay separate.
14. Loosen the sesame paste in a bowl with 2 tablespoons of warm water until it pours.
15. Divide the noodles between three bowls.
16. Spoon over the aromatic soy sauce, garlic water, sesame paste and chilli oil.
17. Dust with the ground roasted Sichuan pepper and scatter the crushed peanuts on top.
18. Tell everyone to mix hard from the bottom before the first bite.