Yuncheng big plate chicken noodles

Dissolve the salt in the water, sprinkle it onto the flour bit by bit stirring occasionally, then press into a ball with no dry flour left.

Cover and rest at least 30 minutes so the gluten starts to form.

Knead by pressing the dough flat, smearing it down and outward with the back of the palm, curling it back about an inch, moving over and repeating; fold in half, press flat and repeat for eight to 10 minutes.

Cover and rest 10 minutes.

Roll out into a rectangle about 1cm thick, cut in half, then cut into 1cm wide sticks.

Coat each stick thoroughly in oil, arrange them neatly, cover with plastic wrap touching the surface, bag it and refrigerate overnight.

Take the noodle sticks out of the fridge to come back to temperature when the cooking starts.

Marinate the cleaved chicken with the salt, chicken bouillon powder, Sichuan pepper, white pepper, soy sauce and Shaoxing wine.

Toss in the leek, dried chili, ginger and the optional star anise, coat with about a tablespoon and a half of oil and let it sit.

Add the oil and rock sugar to a cold wok, turn the flame to medium high and fry slowly about three minutes until the caramel forms, settles and turns a reasonable brown.

Raise the flame to maximum, add the chicken with all its marinade and move it with chopsticks about three minutes until evenly browned and no longer sticky.

Swirl in a bit of wine, drop the flame to low, add the doubanjiang and fry another minute or two to stain the oil, then shut off the heat.

In a separate pot put the thirteen spice powder, Sichuan pepper powder, salt, chicken bouillon powder and the potato chunks.

Transfer the stir fry into the pot with four cups of water, mix, bring to a boil then down to a simmer for at least 30 and up to 45 minutes.

Pull each noodle stick from both ends with gentle even force, rest it on the surface when it resists, smack it down a couple of times and pull longer, to about ramen or spaghetti thickness.

Boil the noodles, dipping in about half a cup of cool water each time it returns to a boil; at the third boil kill the heat and lift the noodles into a bowl.

Nestle in a bit of lettuce, season the soup with another quarter teaspoon of white pepper and MSG.

Add the optional green chili and boil about 30 seconds, then take it off the heat and bring it to the table.

Ladle the soup over each bowl of noodles and top with chopped cilantro and optionally Chinese dark vinegar.