Pasta from the Orient Express - Chinese noodle basics

http://www.recipies.50webs.com/Making%20chinese%20noodles.htm

I wanted to start off with the link in this post as this really is the best sight I found for the beginning UnChef who is ready to try something you think might be beyond you.  It also has a great embedded link for rice noodles.

As I looked around I knew that I was in deeper than I thought possible.  I had taken the job knowing that I didn't know everything about it, but I'm a quick learner.  We were newly married and I was newly pregnant.  I wasn't looking for a job in the accounting department of a savings and loan, just something to get by until I could find a full time job with benefits.  My husband was learning English and working 2 part-time jobs without benefits.  As a temp I didn't need an accounting background.  As a new mom, I needed to find a way to make myself needed at the job I was at.  That didn't happen, but I did find out that by following a few basic steps, I could make something that looked very hard, not so bad.

Handmade Chinese noodles are about the same.  Look really hard (and okay and I not talking about the hand-tossed noodles here) but with a few basic steps, you can make it work. 

Chinese noddles are a made from a hard dough
It is very important to let your dough rest
Corn Starch or Tapioca Starch/flour can be used
You can roll and cut it by hand or use a pasta machine

Kansui powder can be substituted by using Koon Chun brand, it comes in a clear glass bottle labeled “potassium carbonate & sodium bi-carbonate solution” and the UPC is 0-20717-80230-8 or also easier to find is Rennin as a substitute for Kansui (you can find it in the grocery store with the ice cream toppings). It comes in a Jello sized box.  Do not listen to others and use Bicarbonate or Arm and Hammer.  The reason is that it is used as a quick leaven to rise dough. Soda will make flour mixture crumbly as it's designed to make a fine crumb for bread and cookies, and the crispness for crackers.  Kansui is to make curds, like rennin, and designed to congeal liquids. Kansui helps to aaccelerate gluten bonding, improve elasticity and noodle flexibility. It also keeps yellow color of noodles bright.

As with Italian pasta you can buy it in a box, but it is worth the time to step outside the comfort zone and impress yourself, because you can and you will.  :)