Learn how to make naturally gluten-free mung bean starch jelly noodles (liang fen) with only 2 ingredients. The noodles are tossed in spicy, savory, slightly sweet, and tangy Chinese black bean sauce and then served cold. It is so refreshing and super yummy.
What is liang fen?
Liang fen is popular street food in China. It is made with mung bean starch cooked with water until the starch is gelatinized and then chill until firm. The jelly cake is then cut into strips similar to noodles and then toss with sauce. The jelly noodles are usually served chilled, which makes it so refreshing.
Special Ingredients
1. Mung bean starch
Mung bean starch is the starch extracted from, yes, you guessed it, mung beans. They are widely available at Asian stores. They are used in many sweet and savory recipes in Asian cuisine. Don’t substitute it with tapioca starch, rice, or glutinous rice flour, they don’t give the same result. You may try green pea flour. I haven’t tried this myself though.
2. Fermented black beans
Fermented black beans are commonly used in Chinese cooking. You can find this at Asian store as well. They are very salty, so a little bit goes a long way
3. Chinese black vinegar
Chinese black vinegar is another one of my favorite ingredients to use in a tossing sauce for noodles. It adds a bit of tartness. You can also use balsamic vinegar if you can’t find any Chinese black vinegar, though I feel like balsamic vinegar has a sweeter note to it, it would work too
How to make liang fen
1. Put the mung bean starch in a medium-size pot. Add 1 cup of water and whisk to mix until the thin batter is really smooth without any lumps. Then pour in the rest of the 2 cups of water
2. Turn the heat on and cook over medium-low heat and keep stirring using a spatula, scraping the side and the bottom of the pot to prevent anything catching and getting burnt. Don’t be tempted to crank up the heat. Keep stirring. It may seem like nothing is going to happen but trust me, once it starts to thicken, it happens almost instantly
3. You will start feeling something curdle and thicken, keep stirring, it may seem very lumpy at first but yes…keep stirring and eventually you will get yourself a pot of almost translucent and gooey like mixture
4. Pour this into a heat-proof pan, such loaf pan or glass container. I used a 7 x 5-inch container. You can use 6 x 6 or 7 x 7 container or any similar size to get at least about 1-inch thick jelly. Let it cools down for 10-15 minutes and then transfer to a fridge to let it set and firm up into a solid mass, about 1-2 hours
5. Unmould the jelly noodles by turning the mold upside down. It should plop right out.
6. Cut into strips like noodles (it’s up to you how thick or thin you want to cut, but not too thin or it breaks easily)
7. Pour the sauce on top and then gently toss to mix. Garnish with fresh coriander leaves and serve
How to store liang fen
1. I suggest only tossing the sauce with the jelly noodles when ready to serve
2. The noodles can be kept in the refrigerator for about 2-3 days. It may turn watery the longer you keep them in the fridge
3. The sauce can be kept in the fridge for up to one week
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Liang Fen (Cold Spicy Mung Bean Jelly Noodle)
Ingredients
- 120 gr mung bean starch
- 3 ½ cups water divided, see notes
Tossing sauce:
- 1 tsp fermented black beans mashed
- 2 Tbsp roasted peanuts finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce
- 1 Tbsp Chinese black vinegar
- 1 tsp chili oil
- 1 tsp sesame oil
For garnish:
- Fresh cilantro leaves
Instructions
Prepare the mung bean noodles:
- Put the mung bean starch in a medium-size pot. Add 2 cups of water and whisk to mix until the thin batter is really smooth without any lumps. Then pour in the rest of the of the water
- Turn the heat on and cook over medium-low heat and keep stirring using a spatula, scraping the side and the bottom of the pot to prevent anything catching and getting burnt. Don't be tempted to crank up the heat. Keep stirring. It may seem like nothing is going to happen but trust me, once it starts to thicken, it happens almost instantly. It took about 7 minutes to start to thicken on my stove
- You will start feeling something curdle and thicken, keep stirring, it may seem very lumpy at first but yes...keep stirring and eventually you will get yourself a pot of almost translucent and gooey like mixture
- Pour this into a heat-proof pan, such loaf pan or glass container. I used a 7 x 5 inch container. You can use 6 x 6 or 7 x 7 container or any similar size to get at least about 1 inch thick jelly. Let it cools down for 10-15 minutes and then transfer to a fridge to let it set and firm up into a solid mass, about 1-2 hours
Prepare the sauce:
- In a small saucepan, add fermented black beans, minced garlic, sugar, soy sauce, black vinegar, and sesame oil. Cook over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat and stir in the chopped peanuts. Have a taste and adjust to your preference. It should be savory, spicy, tangy, and with just a hint of sweetness. Let the sauce cools down
To serve:
- Unmould the jelly noodles by turning the mold upside down. It should plop right out. Cut into strips like noodles (it's up to you how thick or thin you want to cut, but not too thin or it break easily). Pour the sauce on top and then gently toss to mix. Garnish with fresh coriander leaves and serve
1 comment
Oh wow, 100% YUMMY!
Viele Grüße,
Jesse-Gabriel