These homemade Chinese egg noodles are, in a word, incredible. Their chewy, bouncy texture is unmatched. While I love our Chinese handmade noodle recipe using just flour and water, this one might be my new favorite!
Fresh egg noodles are usually pretty convenient to get from Asian grocery stores. But these days, when we’re all trying to minimize trips to the grocery store and have a bit more time on our hands, making them from scratch is perfect.
Honestly, these are so good and so easy (the whole process takes me less than an hour), I’m making my own from now on!
Why Egg Noodles?
Egg noodles are a little bit more versatile than regular white noodles made from just flour and water.
In addition being great for noodle soups and dishes involving tossing the noodles in sauce, egg noodles can also be stir-fried. The protein in the eggs makes them more resilient.
The fat in the eggs also enriches the dough for a silky texture and richer flavor. Amen to that!
Rolling and Cutting Noodles
As we showed in our first handmade noodle recipe, you can roll and cut these noodles by hand. However, if you have a pasta roller and cutter, the whole process just got WAY easier.
My grandfather (my mom’s dad) loved to explore his neighborhood for garage sales on the weekends. Often, he would buy our family things he thought we’d enjoy, and show off his treasures when he and my grandma came to visit.
Some of his best finds were kitchen equipment––nothing costing more than five or ten bucks, which I think was his upper spending limit!
He bought me a particularly great toaster that I used throughout college, and I’m still using the tiny espresso maker he found to make my coffee every morning.
However, my newly discovered prized possession is the mechanical pasta roller, imported from Italy, that he gave us years ago. It has been gathering dust in my cabinet (a crime on my part, really). Until NOW.
It rolls pasta and noodles so beautifully. I have to tell you, I’ve made no fewer than four batches in the last week.
You do need to make sure you have a surface with a lip to clamp it down securely, but I would highly recommend this mechanical hand-crank pasta roller. If you don’t have a suitable surface but do have an electric stand mixer, you could try a pasta roller attachment.
I’ll show you in this post how to roll and cut these noodles with a pasta roller. If you don’t have one, not to worry, you can still hand-roll and hand-cut them according to our instructions in this homemade white noodle post.
Important Tips:
Whether making plain white noodles or homemade egg noodles, many of our key tips remain the same:
- Don’t be tempted to add more water! The dough will take some time to come together, as the flour gradually absorbs the liquid in the eggs. Resist the urge to add additional water, which will make the noodles gummy rather than springy. If you live in a dry climate and the dough hasn’t come together within 4-5 minutes, add 1 additional tablespoon of water. But that’s it!
- Flour often! To prevent the noodles from sticking together, constantly flour the dough during rolling and cutting.
- Remember that noodles expand when cooking. This means they have to be pretty thin when you’re rolling them out. Ideally, the rolled dough should be thin enough to read a newspaper through. A pasta roller really helps with this.
- Use weight measurements for more consistent results. Measuring technique and variations across measuring cup tools can create a lot of inconsistency. Measure the flour in this recipe by weight for the best results.
- All purpose flour is fine to use. (Different from our other recipe!) In our regular white noodle recipe, we suggest using bread flour (which has a higher gluten content). However, we found that all purpose flour worked just as well (if not better) in this egg noodle recipe.
Chinese Egg Noodles: Recipe Instructions
Combine the flour and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the eggs and water, and combine to form a shaggy dough.
Turn on the mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, and knead for 10 minutes. Be patient and allow the dough to slowly come together. If kneading by hand, knead for an additional 5 minutes (total of 15 minutes).
Cover the dough and allow to rest for 30 minutes. You’ll notice that after the dough has rested, it’s softer and more pliable.
Divide the dough in half. Set one half aside, covered.
To roll by hand, follow instructions here. To roll using a pasta roller, flatten the dough half into a thin rectangle, about ½ – ¾ inch thick (about 1-2 cm).
With the pasta roller at the thickest setting, feed the dough through, being sure to guide it straight, so it doesn’t go crooked or get caught in the sides of the roller.
Continue to run the dough through the roller once at each setting, going one setting thinner each time.
When you’ve gotten halfway through the settings, you may want to cut the dough in half, so that it’s not too long and difficult to manage. I cut my dough when it was at the second to thinnest stage.
As you can see in the photo below, it was getting pretty long!
When the dough is thin enough to see your hand through it, thoroughly flour both sides of the dough sheet.
Then run it through your desired noodle cutting setting.
We cut the first batch pretty thin, but you could also make wide egg noodles. Thinner noodles are better suited to noodle soups, while wider noodles are generally better for stir-fry.
Toss the noodles in additional flour to prevent them from sticking to each other. You may notice that a couple strands of noodles didn’t get cut through all the way. Pull them apart to separate––the noodles will be elastic and stretchy enough.
Repeat with the other half of the dough. This recipe makes four portions.
To cook the noodles, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the noodles and stir immediately to make sure they don’t clump together.
Boil for 60-90 seconds.
Drain immediately, and they’re ready to add to your favorite sauce, noodle soup, or stir-fry!
If you aren’t planning on eating all four portions of noodles at once, you can freeze the leftovers. Simply toss them thoroughly in flour, and transfer them to an airtight freezer bag. We love these reusable bags.
Just make sure they’re not compressed in the freezer (don’t stack anything on top of them), or it’ll cause the noodles to stick together.
To cook, add them straight into boiling water frozen. Do not thaw beforehand, or they may stick together. The frozen noodles will come out of the freezer bag as one big block, but they will separate quickly when they hit the boiling water. Use a pair of chopsticks to stir them up and separate the strands.
If storing in the refrigerator, it’s best to store the dough and roll it fresh. The refrigerated dough must be used within 1 day.
I did something pretty simple with my portion of these tasty noodles.
Here’s exactly what I did:
I added chopped scallion (about 1 tbsp), garlic (1 clove), and chili (1/2 of a Thai bird chili) over the top, and poured a couple tablespoons of heated oil over the aromatics so they sizzled and released their flavors. Then I added 2 teaspoons soy sauce, 1 teaspoon black vinegar, and 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil. I mixed it up, and HOOVERED it. It was SO DELICIOUS.
Trust me, this recipe is so worth it! Here are some other recipes you can make with these noodles:
Recipes to Make with These Noodles
- Chicken Khao Soi
- 10-Minute Sesame Noodles
- Laksa Noodle Soup
- Vegetable Lo Mein
- Bacon & Scallion Egg Noodle Stir-fry
- Red Curry Noodles with Chicken
- Curry Mee (Malaysian Noodle Soup)
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Recipe
Homemade Chinese Egg Noodles
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon water
Instructions
To Make the Dough:
- Combine the flour and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the eggs and water, and combine to form a shaggy dough.
- Turn on the mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, and knead for 10 minutes. If kneading by hand, knead for an additional 5 minutes (total of 15 minutes). Cover the dough and allow to rest for 30 minutes.
To Roll & Cut Noodles:
- Divide the dough in half. Set one half aside, covered. To roll by hand, follow instructions here. To roll using a pasta roller, flatten the dough half into a thin rectangle, about ½ – ¾ inch thick (about 1-2 cm).
- With the pasta roller at the thickest setting, feed the dough through, being sure to guide it straight, so it doesn’t go crooked or get caught in the sides of the roller.
- Continue to run the dough through the roller once at each setting. When you’ve gotten halfway through the settings, you may want to cut the dough in half, so that it’s not too long and difficult to manage.
- When the dough is thin enough to see your hand through it, thoroughly flour both sides of the dough sheet. Then run it through your desired noodle cutting setting. Toss the noodles in additional flour to prevent them from sticking to each other. Repeat with the other half of the dough. This recipe makes four portions.
To Cook Noodles:
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the noodles and stir immediately to make sure they don't clump together. Cook the noodles for 60-90 seconds, and add them to your favorite sauce, noodle soup, or stir-fry!
