Traditional Wuhan Hot Dry Noodles (Re Gan Mian, 热干面)

Traditional Wuhan Hot Dry Noodles, or Re Gan Mian, are one of China’s great street breakfasts: warm noodles tossed in a rich sesame sauce, with no soup in sight. They are savoury, nutty, and deeply comforting.

I love making the noodles from scratch, and honestly it is easier than you might think. That said, shop-bought udon works well too if you are short on time, so do not let that put you off.

If you fancy a lighter, cold noodle dish another day, try my Vegan Soba Noodle & Tofu Salad with Miso Dressing.

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What Are Hot Dry Noodles?

Hot Dry Noodles, known as Re Gan Mian (热干面), are one of the most iconic street foods from Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province in China. This dish features perfectly cooked noodles tossed with a small amount of flavourful, spiced beef stock (“lou mei”). It’s then topped with an array of garnishes such as crushed peanuts, pickled carrots, beans, sesame sauce, soy sauce, garlic, chilli oil, fresh coriander, and spring onions. Each bite delivers a blend of textures and flavours, making it a favourite among noodle lovers. Don’t worry if you don’t have all the toppings; even with just a few, this dish is guaranteed to impress. For an extra personal touch, I used my homemade chilli sauce, which worked wonderfully!

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What Noodles Should I Use?

Noodles are the heart of this dish, and choosing the right type will lift your Hot Dry Noodles to the next level. For the most authentic experience, homemade noodles are highly recommended. In this recipe, I’ve shared how to make homemade udon noodles. They’re fresh, chewy, and have a satisfying texture that pairs beautifully with the rich lou mei stock and toppings. Making noodles from scratch might seem daunting, but it’s incredibly rewarding, and the taste is unbeatable.

If you’re short on time or prefer a quicker option, store-bought noodles can be a great alternative. Look for alkaline noodles, which have a springy texture and are commonly used in Chinese noodle dishes. Udon noodles from the store are also a fantastic choice; their thickness and softness complement the bold flavours of the dish.

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The Spiced Stock, and What It Is Actually Called

The stock in this recipe is a master stock: sesame oil, ginger, garlic, shallot and spring onion fried off, then cinnamon, star anise, cloves, fennel, cardamom, peppercorns and bay simmered into beef stock with Shaoxing wine and a spoonful of brown sugar. It is warm, faintly sweet and deeply savoury, and it is worth making whether or not you make the noodles - it is a soup base, a braising liquid and a stir-fry seasoning all at once.

A note on the name, because I have called it lou mei on this page for a long time and that is not right. Lou mei is Cantonese, and it refers to the braised meats and offal that come out of a master stock, not to the liquid itself. The liquid is the master stock, lou shui. It is also a southern tradition rather than a Wuhan one, so the term was borrowed twice over. The stock is good; the label was wrong.

Beef bones are the upgrade if you have the time. Simmered with the same spices for a few hours they give you gelatine as well as flavour, and the stock thickens as it cools, which is what makes a spoonful of it cling to noodles instead of running to the bottom of the bowl.

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The Sesame Sauce, and How This Version Differs

Street re gan mian is dressed with sesame paste, and that is the part that makes the dish what it is. The paste is thick enough to coat every strand and stay there, which is where the “dry” comes from: there is no soup, only noodles wearing a sauce. A seed paste is ground seeds held together by their own oil, and that body is the point - it is what stops the dressing sliding to the bottom of the bowl.

My version leans on the spiced stock and the toppings instead, with sesame coming through the oil in the stock. That is a real Wuhan flavour and it is not the classic balance. The noodle stalls put a spoonful of stock over the sesame sauce, not in place of it, so if you want the version you would be handed in Wuhan, make both and use them together.

For four bowls: four tablespoons of Chinese sesame paste, or tahini at a push, two tablespoons of sesame oil, two tablespoons of light soy and a teaspoon of dark soy for colour. Loosen it with warm water, or better with a few spoonfuls of the water the noodles boiled in, added a little at a time. It will look as though it is going backwards and stiffening as the first water goes in. Keep going and keep stirring: another spoonful or two and it slackens into a pouring sauce. You want it about the thickness of double cream, so it coats a strand rather than dripping off it.

Chinese sesame paste is made from toasted seeds and is darker and far more savoury than tahini, which is usually raw or lightly toasted. Tahini works and tastes milder; a teaspoon of toasted sesame oil stirred in closes most of the gap.

Toppings for Hot Dry Noodles

None of these is compulsory. Two or three is a proper bowl; all of them is a very good one.

• Pickled carrot or pickled mustard greens Sharp and crunchy against a rich dressing, and the one topping I would not leave out. The quick pickle in the recipe is ready in fifteen minutes.
• Chilli oil or chilli sauce The heat in “hot dry noodles” is this rather than the temperature. The recipe makes its own from fresh chillies, ginger and tomato.
• Crushed peanuts Crunch and a second toasted note that sits alongside the sesame rather than competing with it.
• Raw garlic Finely chopped, or crushed into a spoonful of water and the water used - that is how the stalls do it, and it spreads the garlic through the bowl instead of leaving hot spots.
• Spring onion and coriander Both raw, both added at the end. This is where the freshness comes from in a bowl that is otherwise all savoury depth.
• Cooked or pickled beans Long beans are traditional. Earthy, and they hold their bite.
• Soy sauce and black vinegar A little more salt, and a sharp edge if the bowl tastes heavy.
• Sesame seeds White or black, toasted, scattered last.

Equipment You’ll Need

Nothing specialised, but you want a big pot and a bowl you can knead in.

A Closer Look at the Ingredients

Four separate small recipes, and only the noodles are fussy about timing. The stock, the pickle and the chilli sauce all keep, so they can be made days ahead.

• Plain flour, water and salt That is the whole noodle. Twenty grams of salt to five hundred of flour looks like a lot and it is not seasoning - salt tightens the dough and gives udon its bite, and most of it goes into the cooking water anyway.
• Cornflour for dusting Not plain flour. It stays powdery between the folded sheets instead of hydrating into glue, so the cut noodles come apart.
• Beef or vegetable stock, and Shaoxing wine The base of the spiced stock. Shaoxing brings acidity and a fermented depth; dry sherry is the usual stand-in and is close enough. Vegetable stock makes the whole bowl meat-free.
• The spice list Cinnamon, star anise, cloves, fennel, cardamom, peppercorns and bay. Fried in the sesame oil before any liquid goes in, which is what gets the aroma out of them rather than leaving it locked in the seed.
• Toasted sesame oil Three tablespoons, and it is doing the job the sesame paste does in the street version. Buy the toasted, dark sort.
• Carrot, red wine vinegar and sugar A fifteen-minute pickle. Cut the matchsticks thin or they never take the brine.
• Chillies, ginger, tomato and lime A fresh chilli sauce rather than a fermented one, so it tastes bright rather than deep. It keeps a week in the fridge.

How to Make Hot Dry Noodles, Step by Step

Read this through before you start. The dough wants a couple of hours of resting, so it is the first thing to do and everything else fits around it.

1. Mix and knead the dough. Dissolve the salt in the warm water first, so it goes through the flour evenly instead of sitting in patches. Work it into the flour and knead for eight minutes. It is a dry, stiff dough and it will not look promising early on - keep going and it comes together smooth. Cover it and leave it thirty minutes; the flour takes up the water on its own and the dough softens without you doing anything.
2. Knead it again with your feet, then rest it properly. Put the dough in a bag and stand on it until it is flat, fold it back into a ball and repeat twice more. That is the traditional method and it is not a joke: this dough is too stiff to work hard by hand, and body weight does in a minute what your arms would take ten to do. Then rest it two hours, or overnight in the fridge. Skipping this is what gives you noodles that fight the rolling pin and shrink back as you cut them.
3. Roll and cut. Roll to about six millimetres, dust generously with cornflour, fold the sheet over itself and slice down through it. Cut them as evenly as you can manage, because an uneven noodle means some strands are chalky while others are soft. Toss the cut noodles in more cornflour and shake them loose.
4. Boil them, then rinse under cold water. Twelve minutes in well-salted water, in batches if the pan is not big enough - crowded noodles stick to each other and boil unevenly. The cold rinse is not just cooling: it washes off the loose surface starch and firms the outside, which is what gives udon its slippery bite. If they are going to sit for more than a few minutes, toss them in a little oil, or they weld into a block.
5. Reheat and build the bowl. Dip the cooked noodles into boiling water for fifteen seconds, drain them well, and tip them into a warm bowl. A ladle of the strained stock, then the sesame sauce if you are making it, then the toppings. Toss it hard before you eat, from the bottom up - the whole point of the dish is that every strand is coated, and it will not do that on its own.
6. Fry the aromatics and spices for the stock. Sesame oil in a pan, then the ginger, garlic, shallot and spring onion for a few minutes until they smell sweet rather than raw. Then the whole spices, and give them under a minute - you are after the moment the kitchen changes smell. Past that they turn bitter, and cloves and star anise are unforgiving about it.
7. Add the liquid and simmer. Shaoxing wine first, so it hisses and reduces against the hot pan and loses its raw edge, then the stock and the brown sugar. Simmer thirty to sixty minutes, uncovered, and taste as it goes: the spices keep giving and there is a point past which the cloves take over. Strain it.
8. Keep what you do not use. Four days in the fridge, and it freezes. It is better on day two, and it is worth making a double batch, because it turns a bowl of plain noodles or a pan of greens into something.
9. Bring the pickle brine to the boil. Vinegar and sugar together until the sugar has gone, then off the heat before the carrot goes anywhere near it. Boiling the carrot gives you a cooked carrot; the residual heat is enough to soften it just past raw.
10. Submerge the carrot and leave it fifteen minutes. Push it under - anything above the surface stays raw and goes brown. Fifteen minutes is enough for matchsticks. It keeps a couple of weeks in the fridge and gets better for the first few days.
11. Blend the chilli sauce. Chillies, ginger, tomato, lime, sugar, salt and the oil, all into the processor until smooth. Taste it before it goes near the noodles: chillies vary enormously, and this is the one thing on the table that can wreck a bowl.
12. Store the rest. A week in the fridge in a clean jar with the oil settled on top. It is good on eggs, on rice and stirred through a dressing.

Recipe Card for Wuhan Hot Dry Noodles

Recipe Card

Traditional Wuhan Hot Dry Noodles (Re Gan Mian, 热干面)

Wuhan street noodles: homemade udon tossed with a spiced master stock, quick pickled carrot and a fresh chilli sauce. No soup, just noodles wearing a dressing.

★★★★★ 5 from 1 vote · Rate this recipe

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Prep

45 min

Cook

1 hr 30 min

Total

2 hrs 15 min

Serves

4

Per serving

450 kcal

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4 bowls

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Equipment I Use

Large PotLarge Mixing BowlRolling PinFine Mesh SieveFood processor

Ingredients

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For Homemade Udon (4 portions):

500 g plain flour 250 g warm water 20 g salt 2 tbsp Cornflour, for dusting

For the Spiced Master Stock:

400 ml beef or vegetable stock 3 tbsp Toasted sesame oil 20 g fresh ginger, peeled and sliced 3 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced 1 small shallot, sliced 1 spring onion, sliced 3 tbsp Shaoxing wine 1 tbsp brown sugar

Spices for the Master Stock:

1 cinnamon stick 3 bay leaves 10 peppercorns 20 fennel seeds 10 cloves 5 cardamom pods 3 star anise

For Quick Pickled Carrot:

100 g carrot, peeled and cut into matchsticks 100 ml red wine vinegar 50 g brown sugar

For Homemade Chilli Sauce:

5 chillies, seeds removed 20 g ginger, peeled and diced 8 tbsp chopped tomato Juice of ½ lime ½ tsp sugar ½ tsp salt 4 tbsp rapeseed oil

Instructions

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Homemade Udon:

1

Mix and Knead Udon Dough for Hot Dry Noodles

Dissolve salt in warm water. Gradually mix into the flour and knead for 8 minutes until a smooth dough forms. Rest the dough for 30 minutes, covered to prevent drying.

2

Rest the Dough for Perfect Udon Noodles

For final kneading, place the dough in a plastic bag and step on it until flattened. Fold it back into a ball and repeat twice more. Rest for 2 hours or overnight.

3

Roll and Cut Udon Noodles to Desired Thickness

Roll the dough flat to about 0.6cm thick, fold, and slice into equal noodles.

4

Boil Udon Noodles for a Silky Finish

Boil the noodles in salted water for 12 minutes (in batches if necessary). Rinse under cold water to set the starch for a silky texture. If they are not going straight into a bowl, toss them in a spoonful of neutral oil while they are still damp, or they set into a single block.

5

Serve the Udon with Stock and Toppings

To serve, dip cooked noodles in boiling water for 15 seconds, then transfer to a bowl. Add a ladle of the strained master stock and garnish as desired. For the classic Wuhan bowl, spoon the sesame sauce in first and the stock over it.

Spiced Master Stock:

6

Toast the Spices for the Master Stock

Heat sesame oil in a pan. Sauté ginger, garlic, and onion for a few minutes. Add the spices and fry until aromatic.

7

Simmer and Strain the Spiced Master Stock

Pour in Shaoxing wine, stock, and brown sugar. Simmer for 30-60 minutes. Strain before serving.

8

Store the Master Stock for Future Use

Store leftovers in the fridge for up to 4 days.

Quick Pickled Carrot:

9

Submerge Carrots in Vinegar Brine for Quick Pickling

Bring vinegar and sugar to a boil. Remove from heat and add carrot matchsticks. Ensure they are submerged.

10

Store Pickled Carrots for Later

Let sit for 15 minutes. Store in the fridge for future use.

Chilli Sauce:

11

Blend Fresh Ingredients for the Chilli Sauce

Blend all ingredients in a food processor until smooth.

12

Store the Chilli Sauce for Use in Hot Dry Noodles

Store excess sauce in the fridge for future recipes.

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Chef’s notes＋

Stand on the dough. It is too stiff to knead hard by hand, and body weight through a plastic bag does in a minute what your arms would take ten to do. The two hour rest after it is not optional either: skip it and the dough fights the rolling pin and springs back as you cut.

Oil the noodles if they are going to wait. Boiled, rinsed and tossed in a spoonful of oil they sit overnight in the fridge; without it they set into one block.

Fry the whole spices for under a minute. You want the moment the kitchen changes smell. Past that the cloves and star anise turn bitter and there is no way back.

For the street version, add a sesame sauce. Four tablespoons of Chinese sesame paste or tahini, two of sesame oil, two of light soy and a teaspoon of dark, loosened with the water the noodles boiled in until it pours like double cream. It will stiffen when the first liquid goes in - keep adding and stirring and it comes back. In Wuhan the stock goes over the sesame sauce, not instead of it.

Toss it hard before eating, from the bottom up. The dish is defined by every strand being coated, and it will not do that on its own.

Nutrition per serving＋

450 kcalProtein 10 gCarbs 65 gFat 12 gSat fat 2 gFibre 5 gSugar 7 gSodium 1000 mgServing 500

Traditional Wuhan Hot Dry Noodles (Re Gan Mian, 热干面) · https://chefsbinge.com/traditional-wuhan-hot-dry-noodles-re-gan-mian-%e7%83%ad%e5%b9%b2%e9%9d%a2/

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Storing and Making It Ahead

Everything but the noodles is better made ahead. The spiced stock keeps four days in the fridge and freezes well, the chilli sauce a week, the pickled carrot a fortnight. That turns this from an afternoon into a ten-minute breakfast for the rest of the week.

The noodles are the part that will not wait, and the fix is oil. Boiled, rinsed and tossed in a spoonful of neutral oil they will sit in the fridge overnight without gluing together; without it they set into a single block. Fifteen seconds in boiling water brings them back. Dressed noodles do not keep at all - the sauce goes on at the table, not before.

FAQ for Wuhan Hot Dry Noodles

A Few Words from the Chef

I make these when I want a project. Standing on a bag of noodle dough is the most satisfying thing in this recipe and the children think it is hilarious, which is half the reason it gets made. They also eat more of it than they eat of anything else, and watching them work their way through a bowl of noodles they helped cut is a good hour. We tend to make it around Chinese New Year, when noodles are eaten for long life and nobody cuts them short.