Henan Hu La Tang (Hot Pepper Soup)

Method:

In a mixing bowl, combine the of bread flour with the water. Mix with a fork then use your hands to knead the dough into a smooth and non-tacky. You really need to work the dough aggressively here, stretching, folding, punching and then stretching and folding again. The whole point is to develop as much gluten as possible as it's the gluten you need for this recipe. Return the dough to the bowl, cover and set aside to rest for 30 minutes.

Once the dough has rested, you need to separate out the gluten from the starch. Fill a large bowl with water then wash the dough, working it with your hands, for at least 10 minutes or until the gluten and the starch are fully separated.

Remove the gluten, place in a bowl of water so it doesn't dry out and set aside for later.

Pour the left-over starch water through a fine-meshed sieve to remove any stray pieces of dough and fragments of gluten. Save the starch water in a bowl and set aside to separate for at least 6 hours, until the starch sinks to the bottom of the bowl.

Once the starch has settled, carefully pour off the clear water away from the top of the starch layer. Set the starch water aside.

Add the bones and meat to a large pan, fill with water so the meat is covered then set over high heat and bring to a boil. During this time skim off any fat and scum that rise to the surface of the liquid.

Take the meat and bones out of the water. Discard the liquid then return the meat and bones back to the pan. Pour over 2/5l of boiling water and reduce the heat to a low simmer. Simmer, covered for 150 minutes.

Soak the dried day lily flower, dried kelp, dried wood ear fungus, and sweet potato starch noodles in water for 2 hours or until they are fully rehydrated. Once soaked, remove the peanut skins (if there are any) by rubbing in a coarse towel.

Rinse the kelp to remove the slippery mucus then cut it into 3cm-long strips.

Slice the soaked wood ear/tree ear fungus thinly.

Cut the sweet potato noodles into 5cm-long pieces.

Place a dry wok over low heat and use to toast the whole spices gently for 3–5 minutes until fragrant (toss or stir frequently to make sure they don't burn). Turn the spices into a bowl or onto a place then set aside to cool before transferring to a spice grinder and rendering to a fine powder.

Sift the spices through a fine-meshed sieve and discard any left-over large pieces of spice. Stir the ground ginger into the other spices.

Once the stock is ready take out the beef and bones. Remove all the bones and shred the meat.

Return the meat to the stock and add the peanuts, spring onions, garlic and ginger. Return to a gentle simmer and continue to cook as you prepare and add the remaining ingredients.

Remove the gluten from its soaking liquid then stretch it before ripping into small pieces and adding these to the stock.

Now add in the rehydrated daylily flowers, kelp, wood ear fungus and the sweet potato starch noodles.

Season the soup with salt, soy sauce, dark soy sauce, adding the spice powder to taste.

Finally add in the starch water, stirring to combine. This will help thicken the soup.

Continue cooking until the stock is thickened to your liking.

Turn into a warmed soup bowl. Garnish with chopped coriander and a drizzle of chilli oil (for a little extra heat).

This soup is commonly accompanied by deep-fried dough sticks. You can cut them into bite-sized pieces and soak them into the soup.

In Henan province, local people still eat this as a breakfast, almost every day.

Henan Hu La Tang (Hot Pepper Soup)

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