Two Indian chefs travelled across Asia and fell in love with noodles all over again

There is no single way to make a noodle In Sichuan imperfection is part of the craft in Japan precision can be measured down to the flour and water Two chefs travelled to understand these traditions return with lessons that go well beyond techniqueThe shape of flavourEarlier this year Chef Rahul Punjabi Founder of Bang Bang Noodles spent two weeks travelling through Sichuan mostly in Chengdu and Chongqing with a trip to Leshan exploring its flavours ingredients and culture Alongside sharpening his noodlemaking skills he learnt some Mandarin and experienced the Sichuanhua way of lifeldquoI met so many cheeky bighearted and funloving people who are seriously opinionated about their food and how they like to eat and cook Irsquove experienced that level of stubborn opinion in fine dining throughout my career where much of the focus is on finesse and appearance as in Cantonese and Jiangsu cuisine In Sichuan therersquos far more thought and technique devoted to developing flavour texture and xiang loosely translated as fragrancerdquoPunjabi found the noodle culture particularly different from Japan ldquoIn Japan young apprentices are drilled in technique for years to make perfectly thin straight and uniform noodles In Sichuan the noodles are intentionally rustic made by craftsmen not artists who spend most of their time perfecting the sauces chilli oils and soupsrdquoHe learnt that lesson firsthand with dao xiao mian or bladecut noodles ldquoYou hold the dough on your shoulder on a wooden plank and slice ribbons directly into boiling water After three full days of failing to make decentlooking noodles I can attest to how hard it is An apprentice gets a stainlesssteel dough scraper and has to bend sharpen and shape it into their dao Itrsquos a living thing flexible and adjustable changing the shape of the eventual noodle No two chefs make the samelooking noodles because no two dao are the same and each lao ban has their own preference Some like them thin in width but thick in height others flat and wide some want one side to taper and flare Theyrsquore all right because itrsquos their personal cooking philosophy But they all agreed on one thing the noodles shouldnrsquot be exactly even and perfect Wherersquos the fun in that if it all tastes the samerdquoThe food itself brought another surprise ldquoI was shocked by how not spicy the food was despite looking like a megaton bomb Then I let my guard down and was blown away by the nuclear explosion that is Chongqing huo guo or hot potrdquo he laughsAcross Sichuan and Xirsquoan texture and variety are central to noodle culture ldquoIn Sichuan the sauces are often made with minced meat chilli oil or mian tang the cloudy water the noodles are boiled in So the noodles themselves need to bring texture and a sense of fullness Think bladecut noodles po go mian or blanket noodles tian shui mian the superchunky sweetwater noodles and thin round Chongqing xiao mian In Xirsquoan the sauce or soup is much more straightforward Itrsquos a colder area and the ingredients are limited so theyrsquove developed incredible variety in the noodles themselves biang biang Lanzhou lamian chiveleafshaped noodles catrsquos ears rolled oatflour noodles and sandwiched sorghumflour noodlesrdquoBut the culture stayed with him ldquoIt changed my entire philosophy as a chef I used to chase perfection Sichuanese chefs showed me that the pursuit of flavour can be even more rewarding and good food and great company always make for a good timerdquo he signs offCrafted to slurpChef Lakhan Jethani returned from Bangkok with more than a notebook full of noodle ratios Four days at the Yamato Noodle Academy hosted at No Name Noodle a Michelinrecognised ramen shop gave him a closer look at the craft science and culture behind a bowl of Japanese noodlesldquoWhat drew me to Bangkok was that Yamato Noodle Academy from Japan was hosting the class at one of my favourite places in the world No Name Noodle The fact that the academy and Chef Shinji Inoue were doing this together was a nobrainer for me Therersquos another class in November which Irsquoll go for toordquoThe workshop brought together around 16 students many of them chefs and restaurateurs from across the world ldquoWe formed this global ramen community Someone from Vietnam had a small ramen cart a chef from China was going to open a ramen shop and someone from Korea already had a restaurant and was planning another We started talking about noodles ramen what each of us was creating and sharing our experiences That community was the most valuable part of the triprdquoIn Sichuan the noodles are intentionally rustic made by craftsmen not artists who focus on sauces chilli oils and soupsFor Jethani the course wasnrsquot about learning a single formula ldquoThere wasnrsquot anything about noodle or ramen making that I had completely not appreciated I went to learn more understand different approaches and see how other people use their techniquesrdquoWhat surprised him was the precision with which some of these variables can be measured ldquoThere are scientific instruments that measure the viscosity of a broth and the stretching of noodles I donrsquot have these tools in India but I can send my flour and the water I use to Yamato Academy in Japan They can test them and give me the exact ratios I need to make good ramen and noodlesrdquoLakhan Jethani with chef Shinji InoueHe also came away with a greater appreciation of ageing something that is central to Japanese food culture but less familiar in Indian noodlemaking ldquoAgeing isnrsquot really part of our rich culinary heritage in India in the same way In Japan they age fish and noodles can also be rested for a period of time so the gluten relaxes That changes the stretch and allows the noodles to develop more flavourrdquoUltimately the lesson was about intent ldquoWhat makes a bowl of Japanese noodles whether itrsquos ramen or soba truly memorable is that the noodles are made specifically for what yoursquore going to serve with them In Japan itrsquos common to have different noodle textures soft chewy or hard You use different noodles for different broths If my broth is superheavy and rich Irsquod use a noodle with more flour that can absorb the broth and give you a more satisfying slurp With a lighter broth Irsquod want something silky and softer Thatrsquos what you learn what do you actually want from the noodle What do you want from that bowl of ramen or soba Once you have that intent you can work backwardsrdquoYet the most lasting lesson may have been less technical ldquoThe biggest gift was the people My fellow students became family in a matter of days and the No Name Noodle team welcomed us like old friends The friendships I made arenrsquot going anywhere This is a family Irsquoll be coming back to again and againrdquo