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Mung Bean Jelly Noodles Chinese Liang Fen

Make this iconic Chinese street food at home! These refreshing mung bean jelly noodles are flexible, stretchy, chewy, and only take 2 ingredients to make. They pair so well with almost any sauce and I opted for a sizzling homemade chili oil sauce. 

Liang Fen is a type of cold noodle dish that is super popular in China, especially as a street food. These cold noodles are made from mung bean starch and water and are often served cold with a savory, tangy sauce made from soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, and other flavorings, personally, I like a little kick from chili oil!

You can complete the dish with various types of garnish, including vegetables such as cucumber, bean sprouts, and cilantro and some protein like fried tofu, roasted peanuts, and seitan pieces.

The most important thing in the making of Liang Fen is temperature! The entire magic is based on a chemical reaction called gelatinization of starch. Follow the instructions below closely to ensure success!


INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup mung bean starch

1 cucumber

3 cup water

Fresh cilantro as needed

Roasted peanuts


For the chili oil-

1/3 cup avocado oil

1 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorn

1 bay leaf

1 scallion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

4-5 Chinese dry red chili peppers, chopped

1/2 tablespoon gochugaru

1/2 tablespoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon white sesame

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon coconut amino

1/2 tablespoon dark rice vinegar

TO MAKE:

- Peel the cucumber and blend the peel with the water to make cucumber juice, filter the juice through a sift to get rid of any debris, thinly slice the rest of the cucumber for serving;

- The ratio of mung bean starch to water should be 1:5.5 to 1:6, I do NOT recommend waring off of this ratio too much in either direction, it'll either not set or set too solid and unpleasant to eat. This ratio is by VOLUME, not weight, so as long as you use the same container to measure the starch and the liquid it'll be fine;

- Pour a little of the cucumber juice, about 1 cup, into the starch while stirring constantly, until the starch is dissolved in the liquid;

- In a large pan, heat the rest of the liquid, watch closely, until you see small bubbles start to form at the bottom of the pan, NOT reaching a boil yet, keep the heat low;

- Pour the starch mixture into the pan slowly while stirring vigorously, continue to stir to mix the starch and liquid very well, keep stirring and you should slowly see the color starts to change, from a cloudy green to a darker, and more and more translucent green;

- Once you see no "white" left in the pan and the entire mixture becomes consistent and translucent, take it off the heat;

- Pour into a large bowl, and let it cool down at room temperature, not in the fridge! The temperature in your fridge could be too cold so it messes with the gelatinization process;

- It takes a couple of hours for the jelly to set, once it feels sturdy to touch, flip the bowl over and release the jelly, you can either use a scraper to cut it into noodles or simply cut with a knife into thin strips;

- If making the chili oil, heat the oil with the bay leaf and peppercorn over medium heat for 15 minutes, maintaining a gentle bubbling around the spices, once the oil is infused take out the bay leaf and peppercorn;

- Gather the rest of the spices, scallion, and garlic into a bowl, pour the hot infused oil over them, let it sizzle and stir to mix evenly, once the sizzling stops, add the soy sauce, vinegar, coconut amino, and more salt if needed;

- When ready to serve, place the mung bean jelly noodles in a bowl,  top with chopped cilantro, sliced cucumber, and roasted peanuts, and pour the seasoning sauce over, enjoy!


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