凉面

I figured it was about time I set the tone of this blog and write something about food.

Last night, returning home from work, having walked through the steamy wide avenues which run around the outside of the worker’s stadium, I was hot, sweaty, irritable and hungry. I wanted something cool and soothing. Something that would fill me up, but not leave me with chilli prickle ™ or my mouth coated in cheap oil and I found it in my first bowl of liang mian in four years.

When I lived in Taipei in 2005 I frequently indulged in 凉面 (literally ‘cool noodles’) parking my scooter up against the curb and jumping into the countless restaurants which serve up this unique delicacy in that city*

Liang mian are common in Sichuan and Hunan in China’s southwest, where it is often served as a starter; something to cool the palate before the onslaught of fiery hotpot or spicy fish dishes. In those regions you can often choose between a soy sauce based version which is slightly sweet and presented scattered with coriander leaves on top of the noodles or a more spicy version with a thick sesame sauce and slivers of chicken. Either way, it’s a delicious, refreshing dish, with the intense flavours of Zhejiang vinegar, chilli oil and sesame mixing with the cool noodles to make the perfect antidote to a sweaty Beijing afternoon.

四川凉面
1 glug Chili oil
2 tsp chili paste
1 glug light Soy sauce
1 tsp sweet black vinegar
1 spring onion, white portion minced, green portion finely sliced for garnish
2 medium cloves garlic, very finely chopped
2 tsp rice wine vinegar
1 glug Zhejiang vinegar
3 tsp sugar
At least 2 1/2 cups cooked wheat noodles, cooled. Sichuan peppercorn, lightly toasted and ground, for garnish

Mix all the sauce ingredients thoroughly. Place cooked and cooled noodles in a bowl and top with about 2 tablespoons of the sauce.

Garnish with sesame oil, roasted and ground Sichuan peppercorn and green onion

And in 5 minutes, in the words of Gordon Ramsay, done.


*there definitely needs to be a separate blog entry on Taiwanese food at some point. Awesome stuff.