Long-Promised Chinese Cold Noodles

In my first entry I had stated that one of these days I will attempt to make Lian-Mien aka Cold Noodles with my mom's simple recipe. Although I did this many many weeks ago, today is the day I will post the recipe (::crowd cheering::).

Lian Mien (Cold Noodles)

Ingredients (not all pictured)
- 1/4 cup of soy sauce
- 1-2 large cloves of garlic
- 1-2 TBSP of rice vinegar (adjust to taste)
- 1/4 cup of water + 1 TBSP of sugar
- 4 TBSP sesame sauce + water + pinch of salt (amount of water adjusted to thickness of sauce)
- 1 shredded chicken breast
- 2-3 shredded japanese cucumbers
- chili oil (adjust to taste)
- 1 TBSP of sesame oil
- Noodles (enough for 2 servings) - I use Quon Yick (very common) but use any medium-sized noodles for this dish. Thin noodles, such as egg noodles, would not taste very well.

Serves two.

Steps

1. Noodles - boil the noodles to "al dente" and immediately dump the noodles into a colander to let cool. Rinse the noodles with cold water for ~ 30 seconds. After most of the water have been shaken off, move the noodles to a bowl and add 1 TBSP of sesame oil. Mix well. Let it sit to cool off some more.























2. Chicken - cook the chicken breast in hot boiling water for ~20 minutes. Check to make sure the chicken is cooked through before taking it off the stove. Let the chicken breast sit for a few minutes and start the shredding by hand. Yes, one by one is the way to go! I usually will assign this task to someone else (my husband is the lucky one in this case!).

3. Japanese cucumbers - I highly recommond using Japanese cucumbers because they're so crisp and delicious. You can find this in Japanese or Chinese supermarkets. Shred them using your food slicer/shredder.

4. Soy sauce + garlic - place the specified amount of soy sauce and diced garlic into a small bowl. Depending on if you're a garlic lover or not, you can add more garlic and make the portion 1 to 1. You will just have really garlicky breath after the meal.

5. Sugar water - Melt the sugar in semi-hot water in a small bowl (I do the microwave way - it's so much easier!) The sugar water should not be syrup-y or too sweet. The sugar water will help balance out the vinegar and soy sauce.

6. Vinegar - there is no preperation for this ingredient. Just bring the tablespoon to the table and add about 1 - 2 tablespoons to your noodles... adjust to taste!

7. Sesame sauce - last but not least, the most important ingredient of this meal is the sesame sauce. This is pure sesame paste that can be found at the Chinese supermarket. Place the sesame sauce in a small bowl and add about 1 TBSP of water to the sauce, stir, and add more water until the paste turns into a thick sauce-like consistency. Don't worry - if you add too much water, you can always add a bit more paste to get the thick consistency back. Add a pinch of salt for flavor.













To eat:
You prepare the cold noodles for eating by mixing EVERYTHING together! First scoop the amount of noodles you want to eat. Start off with adding 2 TBSP of sesame sauce, 1 TBSP of sugar water, 1 TBSP vinegar, 1 TBSP of soy sauce/garlic combo, some chicken and japanese cucumbers. Add a few drops of chili oil if you like your noodles with a kick. The noodles should have a light coat of sesame sauce to every inch, it should be salty enough for you, and overall have a flavorful and garlicky taste! Add more of any of the ingredients to accomodate your taste buds. I hope this turns out good for you - enjoy!