Pull noodle promo pulls in curious diners

Pull noodle promo pulls in curious diners

Maria Endah Hulupi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Kneading, pulling and twisting (and pulling some more) are just
several fluent movements involved in the traditional method for
making Chinese pull noodles.

Although modern cooks have enjoyed the practicality and
convenience that noodle-making machines offer when making one of
the world's popular cooking ingredients, the pull noodle
technique, which can be traced back to about 2,000 years ago, is
still maintained and widely practiced.

Master noodle puller from Shanghai Wang Hong said that in his
hometown, such a skill was widely mastered by most cooks in
restaurants and in humble streetside eateries.

Chef Hong is in Jakarta to demonstrate the traditional pull
noodle-making technique at Hotel Mulia's Chinese restaurant
Samudra Shark's Fin for its noodle pulling promotion, ending on
Oct. 10, 2002.

"Many cooks in Shanghai make freshly prepared homemade pull
noodles to cook with a variety of dishes," said chef Hong, who
mastered the skill and has practiced it for over 11 years.

The pull noodle has a soft and moist texture with delicate
elasticity that makes it different from the firmer egg noodle.
Such characteristics, according to chef Hong, make it perfect for
cooking soup.

"We have a wide range of soups, and when a recipe call for a
noodle, it's the pull noodle that we often use," he said.

For the food promotion, chef Hong has prepared two signature
dishes, namely China pull noodles with curry beef and siao long
bao (or popular Shanghai pork dumpling bun).

At the restaurant, the master noodle puller has a special
corner to demonstrate the fluent movement of making the noodles
and guests are entertained by his mastery before finally enjoying
the soup.

Apart from several secret ingredients to make the noodle
dough, chef Hong uses flour and (imported) special flour from
China, a little water and oil.

Chef Hong mixes together all the dry ingredients before adding
the wet ones and, on a lightly floured working surface, kneads
the dough until smooth and well combined. Right in front of him
are four small bowls for water, oil and other items that he
sometimes adds to the dough to create the desired texture and
moistness.

And, as the name suggest, chef Hong pulls the dough until it
forms a long line and repeats the process until he obtains dozens
of long and fine noodles.

He then cooks the freshly made noodles in a pan of boiling
water, drains them, places them on a serving bowl, drizzles them
with steaming hot beef curry soup and the dish is then
immediately served to guests.

For the beef curry soup, chef Hong uses aniseed, curry powder,
sliced beef, coriander leaves, cinnamon stick, rock sugar, spring
onion and chicken powder. The delicious soup has the palpable
fresh aroma of coriander.

This is the first pull noodle promotion held by Samudra
Shark's Fin restaurant and according to a chef at the restaurant,
Desmond Lam, the hotel can already see the positive response of
guests to the promotion. "If it's successful we plan to hold it
regularly, every one or two months," Lam said.