Cold Noodles 冷面

I have distinct memories of Saturday mornings when I was growing up. When I was really young, it was getting up early with my sisters and turning on the TV with a knob to change through the few channels to watch cartoons. It could have been relatives later coming over for breakfast or in my high school years, sometimes having breakfast before going off to do lion dance performances. This home style dish of cold noodles 冷面 (laahng mihn) is one that stuck with me. I love it because it’s simple, fresh tasting and light. I’ve never had to ask for how to season it because I’ve seen my parents make it enough. The dish is simple enough that that there’s really hardly any tricks to it.

The funny thing about making this dish is that you need chicken bouillon and I haven’t written about this yet, but I love Knorr chicken bouillon. I think it’s one of the secret ingredients of my parent’s pantry. It’s used in quite a bit of dishes. Obviously with chicken dishes, but in other instances it makes up for a lack of stock. I’m not going to knock on this stuff for being really processed, but for many working class immigrants like my parents, it’s one of those minor things that helps save so much time with cooking that I think a lot take for granted.

You can certainly add other things to this like ham, cold left over shredded chicken, celery, or green onions. I’m making this version in a most simple way with the ingredients that makes me the most satisfied when I eat this. These days, I love having these cold noodles with chili crisp and pack this stuff for lunch. I don’t think this dish needs or should be made to be pretty. It’s humble, simple, and satisfying.

Especially for this recipe, adjust ingredients to taste for your preference. If you want to add more or omit ingredients, just taste as you go along and trust your senses. Personally, the things I love about this dish are the contrast of textures with springy noodles, crunchy cucumbers and carrots as well as light saltiness and bright hotness from white pepper.

Recipe:

1 lb fresh egg noodles (Cantonese kind)
1 large cucumber (about 12 oz)
1 large carrot (about 8 oz)
2 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp sesame seeds
1 tbsp Knorr chicken bouillon
Salt, to taste
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp MSG
Ground white pepper, to taste

In a large pot, bring water to boil over high heat. Meanwhile, prepare the vegetables.

Wash the cucumber and carrot. Slice the cucumber in half the long way and using a spoon to scoop out the seeds. Thinly slice the cucumbers and set aside. Peel carrots and julienne them. If you really don’t want to do it manually, you can use a mandolin slicer or even a box grater using the most coarse blades.

In a skillet, heat over medium-high heat and toast the sesame seeds until they are fragrant. Set aside.

When the water reaches a boil, add the fresh egg noodles and cook for 3 minutes. Use chopsticks or a large spoon to stir them when you add the noodles to the pot. After 3 minutes, drain the noodles into a colander in the sink. Rinse the noodles with cold water to rinse of excess starch and drain. When the noodles are drained, transfer to a large mixing bowl. Add the sesame oil and toss so the noodles do not stick.

Add the vegetables, toasted sesame seeds, and remaining seasoning. Adjust any seasoning to taste and I like to add more ground white pepper so it’s a little bit more spicy. As you’re seasoning, make sure you season things a little bit more aggressively than what you taste at near room temperature because when you store it in the fridge and eat them cold, the flavor will be slightly muted.