Quickly, but carefully, pulling and stretching the dough, looping it over and over between their hands, with an occasional slap on the table, is one of the traditional ways they make noodles at Noodletopia in Madison Heights.
That method is called hand pulling and dates back about 1,000 years.
“It’s starting from the Tang Dynasty,” explains owner Li Zhai. “Spreading from the western, northern part of China to the whole [of] China.”
Typically, the dough starts as a long cylinder that is then split into single serving sizes. The noodle maker then evenly pulls the dough and then holds the two ends in the same hand, and begins the process over again, looping it around 6 more times to make 128 thin noodles. The noodles are then boiled and served in a warm savory broth with a variety of different proteins, herbs, and veggies. Some like the Spicy and Sour, or the Szechuan can be quite spicy, but most are not.
Zhai says noodles are a very popular street food in China, with the classic Beef Noodles being the most popular. While each place has its own version, his has slices of beef shank, white radishes, cilantro, and scallions, in a clear beef broth. Growing up in Northern China, Zhai says his personal favorite is Lamb Noodle soup.
Hand-pulled noodles aren’t the only traditional noodles they serve either. They have wide belt noodles which are made by stretching a thin sheet of dough until it is a full arm span and splitting it down the middle to create one giant circular noodle. You can find these in their Beyond Noodle dish. They also have shaved noodles, where someone expertly shaves thin strips of dough off of a big mound right into boiling water. This noodle has a slight triangle shape, being thicker in the middle and thinner on the sides, and is used in their Tomato and Egg dish.
Watch the video above to learn more.
If you want to try making hand-pulled noodles, Noodletopia offers classes for groups and special events, contact them for more information. You can visit them in Madison Heights at 30120 John R Road, between 13 and 12 Mile, and enjoy their professionally made noodles.