Big Plate Chicken with Belt Noodles (大盘鸡)
Big Plate Chicken (Da Pan Ji) is a classic Chinese dish consisting of aromatic chicken stew and silky hand-pulled noodles. My recipe shows you how to make it from scratch with a great workflow.
Servings: 4 servings
Ingredients
For the noodles
- 300 g all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 150 g water see note 1
- cooking oil for coating the dough
For the chicken
- 2 tablespoon cooking oil
- 800 g chicken thigh, cut in chunks
- 1½ tablespoon Sichuan chilli bean paste
- 10 slice ginger
- 10 clove garlic
- 3 star anise
- 2 piece cassia cinnamon
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 handful dried chilli or to taste
- 1 tablespoon Sichuan pepper
- 1½ tablespoon dark soy sauce
For the vegetables
- 1 red bell pepper, cut in chunks
- 1 green bell pepper, cut in chunks
- 1 medium-sized potato, cut in thin pieces
- 1 onion, diced
- 3 stalks scallions, chopped
- coriander optional
Instructions
Make & rest the dough (1 hour 15 mins)
- Mix flour and salt. Add water gradually. Mix with chopsticks until no more loose flour can be seen.
- Combine and knead briefly into a dough. Cover and leave to rest for 10 minutes. Knead again for about 2 minutes until very smooth (see note 2).
- Divide the dough into 6 parts. Roll each piece into a gherkin shape.
- Coat them with oil thoroughly. Cover with cling film then rest for at least 1 hour.
Cook the chicken & vegetables (20 mins)
- Heat up the oil in a wok. Stir in the chicken. Fry until pale.
- Add all the herbs, spices and seasonings for the chicken. Pour in 250ml (1 cup) hot water. Cover with a lid. Leave to cook for 10 mins.
- Put in bell pepper, potato and onion (add some hot water if appear to be dry). Stir around then leave to cook for a further 5 mins until the vegetables become tender. Add scallions at the end.
Pulled and cook the noodles (5 mins)
- When the dough is well rested, bring a large pot of water to a full boil.
- While waiting, use a rolling pin to flatten each dough piece into a rectangle shape.
- Pick up one piece by holding each end gently. Pull in opposite directions. The movement should be smooth and consistent.
- As your arms move apart, bounce the noodle against the worktop to help it stretch further (Please refer to the tutorial video below). Drop the pulled noodle into boiling water.
- Pull the second one and drop it in. Repeat until you finish all six pieces of dough. Leave to cook for 1-2 minutes (see note 3).
Assemble the dish
- Transfer the noodles to a large serving plate/bowl using a pair of chopsticks.
- Pour in the cooked chicken & vegetables.
- Garnish with coriander if using. Stir well & enjoy immediately.
Video
Notes
1. Flour of different brands has slightly different water absorption capacity. You may need to reduce/increase the water volume a little to achieve the desired dough texture (watch my tutorial video above to see what it is like)
2. If kneading with a stand mixer: Add flour, salt and water into the mixing bowl. Use the dough hook to knead on low speed until a very smooth dough forms (it takes about 8 mins).
3. I have a comprehensive guide on “How to make hand-pulled noodles” which shows techniques for making thinner hand-pulled noodles. If you are new to this, it may be a good idea to start with thinner version. Then move on to belt-wide noodles later on.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 745kcal
