凉面
凉面 literally translates to "cold noodles", though it is at its best at room temperature. This dish is simple, delicious, highly scalable, and keeps well for a long time. Great dish as a backdrop for a large group of people, a picnic, or just as a simple meal. This is actually one of the first dishes I learned to make, and still one of my favorites.
Active Time: 15 min
Total Time: 15 min
Ingredients
> noodles
> green onion
> oil, soy sauce
> (optional) sugar
> (optional) ponzo or lemon juice
Instructions
1. In a pot of boiling water, cook noodles until fully cooked, stirring occasionally
2. Drain the noodles. Thoroughly rinse the noodles under cold water in a colander or large bowl, using your hand to stir/mix. Continue to rinse until water runs clear and noodles are cool to the touch. Set aside.
3. In a small bowl, mix together soy sauce, sugar and ponzu / lemon juice.
4. In a wok or saute pan, heat oil over high heat until hot. Roughly chop green onion and stir-fry for a minute or two until just before it starts to take on any color.
5. Add mix of soy sauce, sugar, and ponzu / lemon juice, stir for a few seconds, and immediately add in noodles. Stir for a few seconds until noodles are evenly coated with oil / sauce. Immediately remove, serve and enjoy.
Notes/Tips:
> Rinsing the noodles is the most important step. This cools the noodles and removes any excess starch on the surface of the noodles. This helps retain the chewy texture of the noodles and prevents them from clumping together. This is especially important for noodles served cold, but can work as a general tip for noodles served warm as well.
> A little bit of sugar and acid is optional but highly recommended. I find that it helps balance out the dish. The exact amounts are up to your preference. 1 tsp sugar and 1/2 tsp lemon / ponzu per tbsp soy sauce is a good baseline to start with.
> Be very generous with the oil and green onion. It is very hard to add too much of either to this dish.