liang ferrrrr.
Liang fen (or “liang ferrr” as they say in some dialects) is one of my favorite dishes to eat in China, light and refreshing with a weird but satisfying jelly-like texture. I loved watching street vendors expertly shave the thin (or sometimes thick) cold noodles from a huge block of white translucent jello and then pour magical spicy vinegar sauce all over it, transforming the unappetizing jiggly block into a mouthwatering snack or full meal to help me cool off in the hot and humid weather and recharge for the rest of the day.
One day, I bought a block of liang fen at the market to see if I could make it myself at home. Cutting the block into thin pieces is harder than the street vendors make it look, so I just cut it into cubes to make it easier (photo evidence here: Liang fen in China) and then whipped up my own sauce. The end result was maybe not quite as good (and took probably 4 times as long to prepare…) as what I could buy on the street, but it was a lot of fun to make and still very delicious!
I hadn’t really thought about liang fen since my last trip to China a few years ago since I had never seen it in the U.S. and assumed I would only be able to get it in China, but today my mom randomly mentioned that I could make some for dinner if I wanted because we had all the ingredients.
I was really confused at first…where in the kitchen was she hiding a huge block of jello? But then she explained that the blocks are made with green bean (mung bean) starch powder and that she had bought the powder at an Asian supermarket awhile ago so we could make liang fen from scratch. Aha! Makes sense since liang fen is literally translated as “cold powder”.
Super excited to get to make and taste liang fen again, I looked up this fairly straightforward recipe online for reference and got to work straight away.
After some quick mixing and cooking, a few hours to chill, and some (pretty slopping) cutting, I got this:
Still haven’t mastered the slicing/shaving/cutting technique yet, but at least I got some actual noodles this time (albeit quite thick and uneven) instead of copping out and just making cubes :P Cilantro is a great garnish for liang fen, adding a refreshing, fragrant flavor and bright color to the otherwise flavorless and monochromatic noodles. But we’re not done yet!
Adding the “magical sauce” is the last step. Liang fen is like tofu in that it doesn’t really have a taste on its own, so it needs a really great sauce poured on top to flavor it.The sauce I mixed up is very similar to the sauces I cooked mushrooms and shrimp with earlier this week.
And voila!
Mild yet full of flavor, smooth with a little bite, cold and refreshing, this liang fen dish brought back wonderful memories of leisurely walks and pigging out on street food in China with my relatives.
My parents and I devoured all the liang fen I made today in just minutes, but I’m already hungry for more! Good thing I only used a measly 3/4 cup of starch powder for the whole dish, still plenty leftover in the bag to make liang fen every day for a week! Since its made from mung bean starch, liang fen is also pretty healthy, so I won’t feel too bad about overindulging :)
Liang Fen
4 servings
3/4 cup green (mung) bean starch
water
1 tbsp. olive oil
2 tbsp. soy sauce
1/4 c. Chinese vinegar
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp. ginger, minced
1 tbsp. chili garlic sauce
1/2 c. cilantro, chopped
Mix starch with 2 cups of cold water, stirring until dissolved. Add another 2.5 cups of cold water and mix again.
Pour into a pan and heat carefully on low heat, stirring constantly. Bring to a boil and cook for another couple of minutes until mixture is thick and translucent.
Quickly pour mixture into a large glass dish (about 9x12) to cool. Refrigerate for about an hour until set.
While waiting for the liang fen to chill, prepare the magical sauce:
Heat olive oil in a pan on medium high heat. Add ginger and garlic and cook for a couple of minutes.
Add soy sauce, vinegar, chili garlic sauce, and a few tablespoons of water. Bring to a boil and remove from heat.
When liang fen is ready, cut jello into strips, as thick/thin/long/short as you like. [Medium-length thin strips tend to work best for soaking up the sauce flavors and easy eating :) ]
Place liang fen noodles in a large bowl. Mix cilantro with sauce and pour over the noodles. Mix carefully to coat.
Place noodles in smaller individual bowls and garnish with more fresh cilantro to serve. [Pour remaining sauce over noodles if desired for more flavor.]
