Ah, noodles. A satisfying chew and a beautifully simple vehicle to soak up whatever flavors you can think of to give them. This is a simple, all-purpose, homemade noodle recipe that employs some chicken base to give them a head-start on flavor for whatever dish you’re whipping up!
Notes for Homemade Noodle Recipe
- What the heck is chicken base!? Think chicken stock or chicken broth, boiled down to super-intensify the flavor. It’ll come as a thick paste that adds a great roasted chicken flavor. Store bought varieties pack lots of salt which works well for us as it adds much needed flavor to our noodles!
- Chicken base can clump if added directly to flour, so we’ll mix it with the water first for even distribution.
- Flour has a protein in it called gluten. When gluten comes in contact with a liquid, these gluten proteins start to “develop”. This means they stretch out and add elasticity to our dough, and this process is helped along by kneading. Kneading forms a final product with a really nice chew. This is why chewy breads like pizza dough, sourdough, and yes, homemade noodles, are kneaded, and crumbly breads like banana bread and pancakes are mixed as little as possible. Kneading can be tedious, but your effort will be worth it for the texture of your noodles!
- You could use plain ol’ salt in place of the chicken base. If you do, use a bit less to avoid over salting – cutting the amount in half should suffice.
- It is important to let the dough rest those few minutes in between kneads! It gives the dough time to hydrate. The flour will soak up the water, and periods of kneading followed by rest allows the flour and water to evenly distribute for a consistent final product.
Homemade Noodles
Ingredients
- 3 Cups All Purpose Flour
- 1 Cup warm Water
- 2 Tablespoons Chicken Base
Instructions
- Combine Water and Chicken base thoroughly, then mix with flour in a bowl – a stand mixer works well if you have one. Combine until the mixture comes together – don't worry about overmixing. It may look a little dry at first – keep mixing for a few minutes and only add a touch more water if really needed.
- Now we knead! This step takes patience, but your patience will be rewarded. We'll knead the dough for 5 minutes at a time, followed by 2-3 minutes of rest, and we'll do this 3 times. Lean a bit over the counter and put your body weight into it while kneading for best results. You can even count it as your workout for the day! Yes, it's a lot, but you're creating a super-chewy texture by doing this! Are you taking notes?
- While kneading, you'll need to add a bit more flour if the dough gets too sticky.
- Your dough should now be very elastic in texture and look smooth on the outside. Place in an airtight container in the fridge for about 20-30 minutes.
- If you have a pasta roller, by all means put it to use here. You can also use a rolling pin to roll the dough out as thin as you can, and cut into strips with a knife. Whichever method you choose, the noodles will puff up a bit when boiling so if you want a thin noodle, you'll have to roll out the dough super thin! Use plenty of flour when you do this – getting the dough stuck to the counter is a pain. Extra flour will wash off during cooking so better to use more than you think you'll need.
- Boil noodles in salted water for 2-3 minutes to cook.
