Noodles, steamed gluten, and toppings preparation:

Let’s start cooking by mixing the flour with water (added in batches) and a pinch of salt. Create a smooth dough by stirring it for a few minutes. Get some extra help with chopsticks. Cover the dough and set it to rest for 30 minutes.

Work over the dough again with your hands until nice and smooth (about 5-6 minutes), then let it rest for about 2 hours.
Time to get your hands dirty again. Get some water and start washing the dough. Please be careful not to through away the water (we must use it for the steaming of the noodles).
By washing the dough with water (in a big bowl) you will realize that the water starts to get murky and cloudy. You are on the right track. We have used about 2-3 liters of water to wash the dough. Wash it until you are left with a piece of nice gluten. Please note that you will stop washing the dough when you realize that the water coming out of the washing is clear (and not murky as before). 
Set the murky water to rest (it needs 6 hours, without moving it. You could leave it in the fridge overnight if you like).

Remember the gluten you were left with? Add some baking powder if you like (optional), break that into pieces over a plate and steam it for about 25 minutes (medium-high heat).
Remove the spongy gluten from the plate, let it cool down, and go ahead with the cutting (irregular cubes are fine). 

6 hours have gone and here we are with this incredible non-Newtonian fluid. Eliminate the water that is at the top until you reach the bottom fluid. You can recognize it from the brilliant white color and from its strange consistency (solid and fluid at the same time). Make sure you do not throw this away; we are going ahead with the steaming.

Prepare an empty plate with a bit of oil on top (to avoid steamed noodles sheets from sticking to the bottom).
Get an empty round container for steaming, place a bit of oil on top (just a tiny bit) and go ahead with a layer of the wheat starch fluid on top, place it on top of boiling water and steam it for about 3 minutes covering everything with a lid. 

Once ready take it out and place the container into ice water to let it cool down. Since you will be preparing more of these sheets, spread a bit of oil on the top of each sheet to avoid them from sticking with each other. Once they have cooled down, roll the sheets up and cut them into strips, to obtain the cold “skin” noodles.

In the meantime, go ahead with shredding the carrots and cucumbers, and get the bean sprouts ready (just blanch them into boiling water for 10 seconds) or have them fresh.

Seasoning preparation:

Smash some garlic cloves adding a bit of salt in, put them into a container with some sesame oil. Prepare a pot with some boiling water and the spices mix. Let the spices infuse for 10 minutes (medium heat), take everything to a boil, and pour the boiling water into the container. 

Prepare a glass container (make sure it is solid enough to resist high temperatures) and pour in the chili flakes, sesame seeds, salt, fennel, and grounded Sichuan peppercorns. Put the spices into an empty pan and turn on the heat. Let the aromatics come out (5 minutes) without burning them then pour in the rapeseed oil, let the oil infuse with the aromatics (5 minutes), then take out the spices, bring the oil to its smoking point and pour it into the glass container prepared before. After the bubbling, pour in a touch of dark vinegar for a nicer look and fresher taste. 

Final assembly:

Time for the big party! Get an empty bowl and go ahead with the steamed noodles, steamed gluten, garlic water, black vinegar (2 tsp – see above for preparation), chili oil, soy sauce (1 tbsp) (optional), sesame sauce (2 tbsp – see above for preparation), cucumbers (1/2 cup), bean sprouts (1/2 cup), carrots (1/2 cup), sesame seeds (black and white), chopped green onion (optional), cilantro (optional) and peanuts (optional).

If you like, change this recipe by adding your favorite proteins or veggies!

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