What it is
Liangmian (涼麵, 'cool noodles') are cooked noodles served cold with a sauce stirred through them. The standard Taiwanese bowl is simple: noodles, a sesame-paste sauce sharpened with garlic, soy and vinegar, and a heap of shredded cucumber. Shops set themselves apart with the thickness of the noodles and the balance of the sauce. Sichuan-style versions add chilli oil or Sichuan pepper.
Where it came from
Cold noodles are eaten across China, and Sichuan and Chongqing street stalls sell them next to dan dan noodles. Several of Taiwan's older shops have Sichuan roots.
The writer Yu Fu (魚夫) describes one early line in Pingtung. In the 1950s, air force families were housed in former Japanese officers' quarters near the airfield, chiefly Chongren New Village (崇仁新村). With a return to the mainland looking remote, they needed a lasting livelihood, and cold noodles suited the southern heat. Li Fu-hua (李富華) had come from Sichuan with her husband, and his pay could not feed their six children. She rebuilt the flavours of home by trial and error. Her Ren family noodles (任家涼麵) use Sichuan pepper, sesame paste, soy sauce, vinegar, garlic water, sesame oil and sugar. Yu Fu notes that Taiwan toned down the Sichuan heat.
In Taipei, Chiong Fang (瓊芳居) was opened in the 1960s by a cook from Sichuan's Zizhong County. It moved into Ximending's Wannian Building in 1973 and made its name with a sour, spicy sauce that contains no sesame at all.
How it is made
Cooks boil oil noodles (油麵) or other wheat noodles, cool them fast with a fan or iced water, and toss them in a little oil so the strands stay springy and do not clump. The sauce starts from sesame or peanut paste, loosened with soy sauce, vinegar, sugar water and garlic juice. Shredded cucumber goes on top. Some shops add pork or chicken shreds, carrot or bean sprouts, and chilli oil for those who want heat.
How to eat it
Stir the sauce right through before eating. Cold noodles are a summer food, sold mostly at breakfast and lunch, though some Taipei shops open only at night for people heading home after drinks. Many shops pair them with a miso soup holding pork balls and beaten egg. Yu Fu prefers cool barley tea to hot soup.
Around Taiwan
- Tainan
- Douchai mian (豆菜麵), a cheap cold noodle from the countryside on the Chiayi and Tainan border, was traditionally topped with bean sprouts because they kept well in the heat. Many people now eat it without them.
- North
- Taipei has a dense spread of cold noodle shops, from sesame-sauce counters to Sichuan-style sour and spicy bowls. Some cater mainly to late-night crowds.
- Central
- Changhua's lak-a mian (拉仔麵) counts as a cold noodle but is not really chilled. Thick noodles are stir-fried, kept warm in a pot and served with minced pork sauce. Yu Fu argues the 拉 should be written 搦 (lak), a Taiwanese word for scooping noodles from the pot.
- South
- Chiayi uses wide, flat noodles with sesame paste, garlic and mayonnaise, which locals call 白醋 ('white vinegar'). Vendors say the mayonnaise makes the sauce smoother and thick enough to cling to broad noodles.
