Liangfen (凉粉) is one type of Jelly noodles which are quite popular in western part of China. Generally, Liangfen is made with starch, pea starch, sweet potato starch or mung bean starch. In today’s recipe, I amusing mung bean starch to make mung bean jelly noodles. They are crystal, smooth and cool.
There is a famous dish in Sichuan province named as Beichuan Liangfen ( heart breaking jelly noodles). It is featured by the spicy taste. If you feel sad or heart breaking, go and taste it, then your sadness will go with wind since it is too spicy so that all the feeling you have is spicy taste.In addition to an easy Sichuan style dressing jelly noodle salad, those jelly noodles can be also stir-fried. Fried jelly noodle is a famous street food.
Cook’s note
- You need to mix the starch with water and set aside for minutes until they are well combined.
- Before pouring the mixture into the boiling water, stir the mixture once again in case the starch is settled to the bottom.
- My favorite ratio of jelly noodles is 1:9 (starch vs water). But it can succeed with small adjustments. But you need to add at least 8 portions water or 10 portions water at most for each portion of starch. The more water you add, the more tender the jelly noodle can be.
- You can also use roasted chili pepper sauce (烧椒汁) in the bok choy soup.
Ingredients
- 1 cup mung bean starch (around 120g)
- 4 and 1/2 cup water, divided
Instructions
In a large bowl, mung bean starch with 1 cup of water. Set aside until they are well combined.
In a pot, boil the left 3 and ½ cups of water in a larger pot. Turn down the fire firstly and then stir the starch mixture in slowly. Gently stir during pouring. Heat until the mixture turns transparent.
Transfer out and cool down completely.
Then cut into small strips. Mix well with the salad dressing.
- 1 cup Mung bean starch ,around 120g
- 4.5 cup water ,divided
- 2 tbsp. Szechuan style chili oil
- 2 tbsp. black vinegar
- 1 tbsp. sesame oil
- ½ tsp. sugar
- ¼ tsp. salt
- ¼ tsp. Sichuan peppercorn powder or oil ,optional
- 2 tbsp. light soy sauce
- 2 garlic cloves ,minced
- 1 tbsp. vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp. minced green onion
- 1 tbsp. minced coriander
-
In a large bowl, mung bean starch with 1 cup of water. Set aside until they are well combined.
-
In a pot, boil the left 3 and 1/2 cups of water in a larger pot. Turn down the fire firstly and then stir the starch mixture in slowly. Gently stir during pouring. Heat until the mixture turns transparent.
-
Transfer out and cool down completely.
-
Then cut into small strips.
-
Place chopped garlic and half of the green onion in a bowl.Heat oil until hot. Pour the hot oil over the garlic. Mix all the other seasonings in.
-
Mix well with all the seasoning and enjoy!
Can corn starch be used instead of mung bean starch?
Hi Angela,
You can use corn starch to make this jelly noodles yummy too. But the taste might be slightly different. Mostly, Mung bean starch and pea starch are used for a more stretchy texture.
I did try it with cornstarch and the consistency was too soft and not at all noodle like. The taste was not too bad but will definitely try again with mung bean starch. Thanks!
Angela, thanks for the feedback. I will test with cornstarch later on.
looks delicious! my chinese grandfather makes a dish similar to this.. brings back some childhood memories!
Me too Thalia. My grandmother always makes those noodles in summer days. And this is one of my favorite summer cold dish.
This dish looks both beautiful and delicious. I have a soft spot in my heart for asian noodles of any kind, but Sichuan cooking is one of my favorites. I can’t wait to try these since I always want to make hand-made noodles.
Wow,
Hand-made noodles are so great! I love to make some from time to time at home too.
Mung bean noodles are my favourite. Not only do these look delicious but super easy. I will deffo have to make them!
They are my favorite too especially in summer days. I have such rich and warm memories about this noodles during my time with my grand mother.
What’s the ratio of mung bean starch to water? I bought mung bean starch from a korean market, but the directions are all in korean and I don’t speak korean. How much water should I use to mix the mung bean starch with?
Hi Lynn,
It depends on how you want to use the mung bean starch. For jelly noodles, the ratio of mung bean starch and water should be 1:6. For coating or other usages, usually I would recommend a 1:1 ratio, but also differ from how thick you want to sauce to be.
can i fry up these noodles(i dont like cold) and will thy hold up in taste? thank you for easy recipe
Hi there,
Yes, liangfen can be stirred fried. You can use similar sauce and add some spice powder will light it up. Good luck!
Hi, I have tried many types of starch which includes corn starch, potato starch and mung bean starch and the ratio is 1:6 to make Liangfen noodles as according to the steps as directed and keep in refrigerator for 1 hour and sometimes even longer but the result wasn’t good as expected because it was very soft and easily broken into pieces. Why, can you give me some advice. Thank you
Hi Keith,
That’s my fault. The ratio should be the weight ratio but not volume ratio. I have already corrected the recipe. So you need to add more starch.
Thank you so much for this. I tried it with sweet potato starch, turn out well and nice. My wife is from China and she definitely miss this dish.
Thanks for the feedback, Roy. You mush be very luck to have a Chinese wife. She will lead you into the yummy Chinese food world. Happy cooking!
I tried to make these and weighed out all the ingredients correctly. I stirred the water together with the mung bean starch, let it sit for 15 minutes, then stirred it again to make sure it was smooth when I poured it into the boiling water, but when I poured it in it got clumpy. A good portion of it turned to the clear paste, but I couldn’t get rid of these hard clumps that formed. What am I doing wrong?
Jillian,
Your stirring speed is too slow after pouring the batter into boiling water, so part of the liquid is not smooth enough. What tool you were using?
I was using a wooden spoon the first time I tried to make them, and a whisk the second time.
Have you ever seen liangfen made from chickpea flour and then fried like tofu? I know they do this in some regions in China but can’t find a recipe anywhere. Thank you!
You are the most welcome!
Hi Elaine, I love this recipe and have made it many times for myself and for guests, who always love it. I rarely get to eat this dish unless I am visiting China which these days is not often, maybe every 2-3 years. There is an authentic Chinese restaurant near me that serves this, but the dressing it mostly oil. Yours is just the perfect balance of flavors. Well done.
I do seem to have an issue when adding the starch mixture to boiling water as in the recipe, it does not mix well for me and forms clumps, so maybe I am doing something wrong. Instead I mix all the water with the starch at once and bring it to a boil which works for me. Maybe I am not patient enough. 🙂
Anita,
When pouring the starch mixture, please control your speed and keep stirring. But it is completely ok to mix the ingredients directly before heating. You are a creative cook.
When I eat locally in my city, I found the same problems quite universal too. Restaurants are pursuing too much spices and oil and make the dishes universally the same. Home made Sichuan dishes are much healthier, lighter and more delicious.
Looks really delicious, one of my favorite appetizers to order when I am eating in a Szechuan restaurant. I’ll have to try this recipe at home one day, thanks so much for sharing!
It is actually super easy, Han. It is the best season to eat Liangfen now.
This was one of the first things my chopsticks reached for when dinning at a Chinese banquet. I’m so glad to get the recipe and will try very soon.
It is actually very humble and easy salad. Happy cooking.