Tears of Joy or Heartbreak?  A Controversial Jelly Noodle

Have you ever been to a Sichuan restaurant and seen a bowl of something that looks like big fat noodles but on closer inspection is actually jiggly strands of jelly? Ranging from translucent to opaque white or yellow, they usually glow with a chili-oil sauce and fresh and crunchy garnishes. When you manage to capture these slippery guys with your chopsticks, they slither down your throat so easily. They are an enigma, at once hot and spicy and light and cooling. And they are perfect for summer.

These are liangfen, which is the term for cold noodles that are made not from wheat but rather from rice or bean starches. Sichuan has numerous liangfen dishes made from sweet potatoes, mung beans, chickpeas and other peas and beans. These jelly noodles are sometimes prepared rather dense and firm and cut in thick pieces, but, in my opinion, the best are wobbly, airy  noodle-like pieces that play so well with a classic Sichuan cold-dish dressing as a side dish or snack.

We eat these every time we go to Sichuan and, in fact, almost every time we eat in a Sichuan restaurant anywhere. Our recipe (first published in July 2018 and significantly updated in 2024) was originally based on the version at New York’s Málà Project. While that restaurant specializes in Sichuan dry pot, its small cold dishes are also spot on. We didn’t cry literal tears of joy, but we did understand the sentiment in the name when we ate their version of cold mung bean noodles, called Liang Fen of Happy Tears on the menu.

What Are Shangxin Liangfen, Or Heartbreak Jelly Noodles?

Come to find out that Málà Project has put its own spin on the translation of shangxin as “happy tears.” According to this 2013 article in China Daily, the name is usually translated as “‘heartbreak jelly’ because it is so spicy that people are said to burst into tears when eating it.”

The article goes on to say that a restaurant in Chengdu claims to have invented shangxin liangfen and that it successfully acquired a trademark for shangxin noodles in 2005. The restaurant has since then spent a great deal of time suing local competitors for using that name, even though some restaurants claim the dish was actually invented during the Qing Dynasty.

Who knew that these slippery noodles had such a controversial history? Regardless, they sure go down easy.

Málà Project was kind enough to share the recipe for their shangxin liangfen sauce with us, and I’ve adapted it for home cooking. Perhaps in honor of their translation, promising tears of joy instead of heartbreak, their version is not super hot. Of course you can control the heat to your own desire with the amount and heat level of your chili oil—use your favorite store-bought or make your own. Our Chengdu Crispy Chili Oil is ideal, and packs more of a spicy punch—more heartbreak, perhaps.

How to Make Jelly Noodles

Jelly noodles, or liangfen, are surprisingly quick and easy to make, once you settle on the ratio of starch to water that makes the density and shape you prefer. You can make a batch in under 5 minutes, plus an hour or so for them to firm up. Shangxin liangfen are made from mung bean starch, which is readily available at Asian markets (a Korean one may be easiest to find).

Over the years, I have continually increased the ratio of water to bean starch to make a flexible, floppy, appealing noodle, settling on a ratio of about 11 parts water to 1 part starch. It should be a bit toothsome, but not too thick or dense, as you want that delectable chili-oil sauce to penetrate the jelly. If you prefer them firmer, just use a bit less water.

Mung bean noodles themselves don’t have much taste and are really just a pleasing texture vehicle for the sauce. Another thing to know is that they don’t absorb sauce easily, so it’s a good idea to cut them into rather thin strips to make sure they have sufficient sauce coverage. This also means you can make them ahead and let the noodles sit in the sauce for an hour or more without them going soggy.

Now go forth and make them and cry some happy tears!

If you like Sichuan cold noodles, try our recipes using wheat noodles, including my cold noodles with shredded chicken and Kathy’s Mom’s liangmian, or rice noodles, with Michelle’s Yunnan Liang Mixian.

This recipe was originally published in 2018 and significantly updated in 2024.