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.