{"id":42514,"title":"Sichuan Sweet Water-Noodles \u2013 Ti\u00e1nshu\u01d0 Mi\u00e0n","modified":"2025-06-29T10:36:34+02:00","plain":"A delicious homemade noodle dish with an ultra-flavorful sauce\n\n\n\nToday we're diving into another variation of Sichuan noodles. From dan dan noodles to glutamate noodles, the versions are endless (even if the differences can be subtle)!\n\n\n\nIn this article I introduce you to Ti\u00e1n shu\u01d0 mi\u00e0n (\u751c\u6c34\u9762), or \"sweet water noodles\" \u2014 literally, noodles in sweet water. Beneath the plain name is a sauce that is just as simple to put together yet, thanks to its ingredients, delivers a surprisingly layered, satisfying flavor.\n\n\n\nAnd then there are the noodles themselves... distant cousins of udon (or, considering the history of Japanese cuisine, perhaps their ancestor), they are thick, long, and pure joy to slurp. You can swap in udon in a pinch, but the homemade version is divine. Their traditional name is gungunmian (\u68cd\u68cd\u9762), or \"stick noodles\".\n\n\n\nYaki udon is my favorite udon dish\n\n\n\nOrigins of Ti\u00e1n shu\u01d0 mi\u00e0n\n\n\n\nSweet water noodles trace their roots to Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province in China. Their earliest written record dates to 1910, when historian and writer Fu Chongju mentioned the dish in his biji, Chengdu Tonglan.\n\n\n\nHe wrote that the noodles were served early each morning, mostly to laborers, at the modest price of 6 Wen per bowl, while wealthier patrons paid 16 Wen.\n\n\n\nYet Fu Chongju was hardly impressed; he called them thick and bland. The comment may be harsh, but it is also one of the first written notes on this now iconic dish, showing that sweet water noodles had not yet evolved into the flavorful bowl we know today.\n\n\n\nTi\u00e1n shu\u01d0 mi\u00e0n earned their current light sweetness and clean profile only after decades of tweaks, especially the arrival of glutamate and the culinary shifts that followed the post-Mao reforms.\n\n\n\nThe main ingredients of Ti\u00e1n shu\u01d0 mi\u00e0n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nWheat flour: Ideally choose Italian 00 flour with a high gluten content, or use bread flour.\n\n\n\nThe noodles: homemade is best, but udon works in a pinch\n\n\n\nChinese cardamom: also called black cardamom, it adds a distinct smoky note to the sauce. You can swap in Indian black cardamom, though the flavor is less refined\n\n\n\nChili oil: here we use two chili oils: a jarred Lao Gan Ma and a quick homemade version included below. For full authenticity, you can replace both with Sichuan chili oil\n\n\n\nTraditional Sichuan chili oil delivers a serious flavor punch!\n\n\n\nThe glutamate: Some diners shy away from this seasoning \u2014 you can omit it, but, as with fried-garlic noodles, it delivers a huge hit of umami\n\n\n\nCulinary sources\n\n\n\nFor this article I leaned on the excellent recipe from the YouTube channel \"Chinese Cooking Demystified\"\n\n\n\n\n\n\tSichuan Sweet Water-Noodles \u2013 Ti\u00e1nshu\u01d0 Mi\u00e0n\n\t\t\n\t\tChewy hand-cut noodles tossed in a sweet, spicy, and deeply savory Sichuan sauce.\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\tHandmade Noodles200 g high-gluten flour (e.g., Italian 00 flour)4 g salt100 g water1 tablespoon neutral oil (for coating the noodles)Sweet Soy Syrup100 g light soy sauce25 g brown sugar1 star anise2 pieces dried ginger0.5 stick cinnamon1 Chinese black cardamomGarlic Water7 cloves garlic3 tablespoons water (cold)Quick Chili Oil2 tablespoons red chili powder55 ml neutral oil55 ml Lao Gan Ma chili oilAssembly400 g noodles (cooked)8 tablespoons chili oil (homemade, prepared above)2 tablespoon sweet soy syrup (prepared earlier)2 tablespoon garlic water (paste and liquid)8 teaspoons peanuts (crushed)1 teaspoon sesame oil1 teaspoon Sichuan pepper powder1 teaspoon sugar1 teaspoon MSG\t\n\t\n\t\tHandmade NoodlesIn a mixing bowl, combine the flour and salt.Drizzle in the water a little at a time, stirring continuously with chopsticks.When the dough looks shaggy, press it together into a rough ball.Knead on the counter for 2\u20133 minutes.Return the dough to the bowl, cover, and let it rest for 15 minutes.Knead for another 1\u20132 minutes.Move the dough to the work surface, pat it into a rough rectangle, then fold it in half.Flatten and fold again, repeating the process six times.After the final fold, place the dough back in the bowl, cover, and rest 15 minutes more.Repeat the knead-fold-rest cycle once more (knead 1\u20132 minutes, fold 6\u20137 times, rest 15 minutes).Dust the counter with flour and roll the dough into a 0.5-cm-thick sheet.Cut the sheet into 0.5-cm-wide strips to form rectangular noodle 'sticks.'Gently separate and stretch the strips as you go.Lightly dust the noodles with flour once they're all cut.Cook the noodles in batches, slipping them gently into a pot of boiling water.Give them a gentle stir with chopsticks to keep them from sticking.When the water returns to a full boil, splash in a cup of cold water (as you would for wontons).Bring back to a boil once more, then drain the noodles.Transfer the noodles to a bowl and toss with a little oil.Sweet Soy SyrupCombine all the ingredients in a small saucepan.Warm over low heat until the sugar dissolves, then cover.Simmer gently for about 15 minutes, until big bubbles appear and the syrup coats the back of a spoon.Garlic WaterLightly crush the garlic cloves and peel them.Pound the garlic to a coarse paste in a mortar.Stir in the cold water.Quick Chili OilPut the chili powder in a heatproof bowl.Heat the oil to about 190 \u00b0C, just until wisps of smoke appear.Carefully pour the hot oil over the chili powder and stir.Stir in the Lao Gan Ma.AssemblyCombine all ingredients listed under \u201cAssembly\u201d using the per-bowl amounts above, then toss thoroughly.\t\n\t\n\t\tPer-bowl seasoning guide\n\n200 g cooked noodles\n4 Tbsp homemade chili oil\n1 Tbsp sweet soy syrup\n1 Tbsp garlic water (paste and liquid)\n4 tsp crushed peanuts\n\u00bd tsp toasted sesame oil\n\u00bd tsp ground Sichuan pepper\n\u00bd tsp sugar\n\u00bd tsp MSG\n\nShortcut: Swap in store-bought udon noodles if you're short on time.\n\t\n\t\n\t\tPlat principalChinoiseHuile de s\u00e9same, Nouilles, Sauce soja light, V\u00e9g\u00e9tarienne","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42514","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42514"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42514\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17972"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42514"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42514"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42514"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}