Tian Shui Mian (Sweet Water Noodles, 甜水面)
A popular street food in Sichuan, Tian Shui Mian features extra thick, chewy noodles seasoned with intense flavors: hot, tingly, sweet, and super aromatic.
- Prep time
- 5 min
- Cook time
- 20 min
- Yield
- 2 servings
- Difficulty
- MEDIUM
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- 1⅔ cup all-purpose flour (see note 1)
- 6 tablespoon water (see note 2)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup soy sauce (light or regular)
- ½ cup dark brown sugar (or rock sugar)
- ¼ cup water
- 2 stalk scallions
- 5 slice ginger
- 1 star-anise
- 1 small piece Chinese cinnamon (aka cassia cinnamon)
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon whole Sichuan pepper
- ½ teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1 Tsao-ko (aka Chinese black cardamom (optional))
- 2 tablespoon spiced sweet soy sauce
- 2 tablespoon Chinese chili oil
- 1 tablespoon sesame paste (thinned with a little water (optional, see note 2))
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 2 tablespoon toasted peanuts (crushed)
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- ¼ teaspoon ground Sichuan pepper
Instructions
- 1
Make the dough
- 2
Put flour and salt into a mixing bowl. Pour in water gradually while swirling with a pair of chopsticks. Small lumps of dough form during this process.
- 3
Use your hand to combine and knead until a rough-looking, firm dough forms.
- 4
Cover the dough with cling film. Leave to rest for 15 minutes. Once the resting is done, knead the dough again for 2-3 minutes until it becomes smooth. Let it rest for another 10 minutes.
- 5
Cook the spiced sweet soy sauce
- 6
While waiting for the dough to rest, prepare the spiced sweet soy sauce. Put all the ingredients for the sauce into a saucepan.
- 7
Bring it to a boil, then turn the heat down to low and let it simmer uncovered. Once lots of bubbles appear and the sauce becomes thick enough to coat a spoon, remove from the heat.
- 8
Pass the sauce through a sieve to remove all the solid bits. Let the sauce cool and move on to the next step (Note that the sauce will be more than you need for this recipe. Learn other usage and storage tips in note 3).
- 9
Shape the noodles
- 10
Use a rolling pin to flatten the dough into a rectangle of about ⅓ inch (8mm) thick. Dust with flour when necessary to prevent sticking.
- 11
Cut the dough into strips of noodles with a width of around ⅓ inch (8mm). Dust the noodles with flour and loosen them up to avoid sticking (see note 4).
- 12
Cook the noodles
- 13
Bring a pot of water to a full boil. Slightly stretch the noodles before putting them into the water.
- 14
Leave to boil until they’re just cooked, achieving a firm, chewy texture. Drain then rinse under running water to cool them quickly (see note 5).
- 15
Assemble the dish
- 16
Divide the noodles into two serving bowls. Add the spiced sweet soy sauce, chili oil, sesame paste, minced garlic, toasted peanuts, sugar, and ground Sichuan pepper. Stir well to coat each noodle with the seasonings.