Homemade Ramen Noodles

Ingredients

• 8g baked baking soda
• 4g Diamond Crystal kosher salt; for table salt or other kinds of salt, use the same weight
• 164mL water
• 396g King Arthur bread flour
• 4g vital wheat gluten

Directions

1. For the noodles, put the baked baking soda into the water and mix until no grains remain, about 1 minute. Stir in the salt until it disappears into the liquid.
2. Put the vital wheat gluten and bread flour into a food processor with the metal blade, or use a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Mix until the dry ingredients are evenly blended, about 30 seconds in the food processor or 1 minute on low speed in the stand mixer.
3. Set the machine to medium-low. While it runs, pour in 1/3 of the liquid, wait until it has been taken up, then continue the same way with the remaining liquid, giving it about 30 seconds between pours. Once all the liquid is in, keep mixing until the dough has a small, gravelly look, about 1 minute. If you are using a food processor, turn it off and leave the dough alone for 30 minutes. If you are using a stand mixer, turn it off, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and let it sit for 30 minutes.
4. Squeeze the dough together into a ball, then divide it into 2 roughly equal portions. Set them in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap so the surface does not dry out.
5. Take 1 portion and press it down to about 1/5 inch thick. It will be stubborn, and that is fine; flatter dough is just easier to send through the rollers. Pass it through the widest setting on the pasta roller, then the second widest setting, then the third widest setting, then the fourth widest setting. Fold the sheet in half so its length is reduced by half, then put it through that same rolling sequence 2 times. The folded dough will get tougher to roll each time. When it is going well, you will see lengthwise lines in the sheet. Cover the sheet in plastic wrap or tuck it folded into a zip-top bag, then do the same thing with the remaining portion. Let the dough sheets rest for at least 30 minutes before moving on.
6. Take 1 dough sheet and feed it through increasingly narrow settings on the pasta machine until it is as thin as you want it, about ~1-1.5 mm. Send the finished sheet through the spaghetti cutter, then toss the noodles with flour or corn starch so they do not cling together. Shake away the extra flour or starch and gather the noodles into loose nests. Or, if cutting by hand, flour the dough sheet, fold it, flour it again, and fold it again to make a stack. Slice through the stack at even intervals with a sharp knife to make noodles. When the cutting is done, shake the noodles apart and shape them into loose nests.
7. Transfer the noodles to a zip-top bag and refrigerate overnight.
8. Before cooking, if you want curls, gather the noodles into a ball on a clean, dry surface and press them between your palms with the same kind of force you would use for a snowball. Separate the noodles, then gather and press them the same way again.
9. To cook the noodles, bring a large pot of unsalted water to a rolling boil over high heat. If you have noodle baskets, put the noodles in the baskets, lower them into the water, and immediately stir the noodles hard with tongs or chopsticks so they stay separate. Without baskets, add the noodles straight to the boiling water and stir briskly with tongs or chopsticks. Cook, stirring now and then, for about 2 minutes for hand-cut noodles, or about 1 minute and 30 seconds for noodles made with the spaghetti cutter. Drain very well, shaking off as much water as you can, then add the noodles to hot ramen broth.