Ma's Sichuan Liangmian (四川凉面) Spicy Cold Noodles
Servings: 4
The Mala Market
Equipment
- pair of chopsticks, tongs or salad serving utensils
- fan (or magazine, folded newspaper etc)
Ingredients
- 20 grams fresh garlic, minced (approx. 4-6 cloves)
- 15 grams fresh ginger, minced (approx. 1 thumb)
- ½ tablespoon lukewarm water more as needed
- 200 grams dried alkaline wheat noodle
- ½ tablespoon *cooked caiziyou (Chinese roasted rapeseed oil) *must be heated to smoking before use. Sub (uncooked) vegetable oil if unavailable
- 2 tablespoons homemade chili oil with flakes see note
- 1½ tablespoons hongyou (chili oil sans flakes) see note
- 2 tablespoons Chinese black vinegar (Baoning preferred)
- 2 teaspoons Chinese light soy sauce (Zhongba preferred)
- 1 teaspoon tengjiaoyou (green Sichuan pepper oil, Yaomazi preferred) optional
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil (Cuizi preferred)
- ½ teaspoon salt more or less to taste
- ¾ teaspoon white sugar more or less to taste
- ¼ teaspoon ground huajiao (Sichuan pepper) see note, double if not fresh
- ¼ teaspoon MSG
- 5-6 scallions, washed and drained, thinly sliced on the diagonal see note, extra for garnish if desired
Instructions
- In a small bowl, add the cool/lukewarm water to just cover the minced garlic and ginger. Less is more. Set aside.
- Bring a medium pot of water to a boil and cook the noodles until 80% cooked or just barely al dente, no more than 5 minutes. While you are waiting for the water to boil, heat the caiziyou to smoking in a small pan. Set aside off the heat and let cool.
- Drain the cooked noodles and, working quickly, lift them with a pair of chopsticks, tongs or salad serving utensils while fanning them dry/cool. When they are cool to the touch, transfer to a large bowl and immediately toss with the cooked caiziyou. Avoid overhandling or mixing before the noodles have cooled, or they will stick together.
- Add the garlic/ginger water including the minced bits, chili oil with flakes, hongyou, black vinegar, soy sauce, tengjiaoyou, toasted sesame oil, salt, sugar, ground huajiao, MSG and slivered scallions. Toss and mix thoroughly. Transfer to large serving container and garnish with extra scallion if desired. Enjoy now or keep in fridge to chill until later!
Notes
For hongyou, skim the red oil only from the surface of your lajiaoyou (Sichuan chili oil). To make Kathy's family's Sichuan homestyle lajiaoyou using roasted rapeseed oil and fragrant-hot ground chilies, see her Traditional Sichuan Chili Oil recipe. Or, for the ultra-mouthwatering 香辣 (xiānglà)/fragrant-hot hongyou version, see the Aromatic Sichuan Chili Oil recipe!
GROUND HUAJIAO (Sichuan pepper):
Toast whole huajiao in a dry skillet until pods start to smell very fragrant, but do not brown them. Let peppercorns cool, then grind in a spice grinder or in a mortar + pestle to your desired coarseness. Sichuan pepper powder will retain its potent flavor and numbing punch for only a few weeks.