Rice noodle liangpi

Liangpi, a cold noodle dish with origins in Shaanxi province, is typically made by separating wheat gluten and starch to form noodles and accompanying gluten puffs, tossed in a chilli oil - based sauce.

Credit: Danielle Abou Karam

• serves

  6

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  20 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Andrew has used fresh rice noodles here for a quick shortcut.

Ingredients

• 1 kg fresh rice noodles (banh pho)
• boiling water, for soaking
• 3 short cucumbers, cut into matchsticks
• 1 cup coriander sprigs
• 1 spring onion, thinly sliced

Chilli oil

• ¼ cup chilli flakes
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 tbsp sesame seeds
• 375 ml (1½ cups) sunflower oil
• 1 tsp Sichuan peppercorns
• 1 star anise
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2-cm piece ginger, sliced
• 2 spring onions, chopped

Garlic vinegar dressing

• 1 star anise
• 1 tsp Sichuan peppercorns
• 5 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tbsp Chinese black vinegar

Instructions

1. For the chilli oil, place the chilli flakes, chilli powder, salt and sesame seeds into a heatproof bowl and stir to combine. Place the oil and all the remaining ingredients into a saucepan over low heat. Cook for about 10 minutes or just until the spring onion starts to turn brown. Remove from the heat and strain the oil though a fine sieve and discard the whole spices. Pour half the hot oil over the chilli flake mixture – it should bubble and sizzle. Stir until the sizzling stops, then stir in the remaining oil. Leave to cool. This is ready to eat as soon as it cools down but if you want the flavours to infuse properly, make it the day before. Any oil you don’t use will keep for 1 month in a jar.
2. For the garlic vinegar dressing, place the star anise and Sichuan peppercorns in a saucepan with 250 ml (1 cup) water. Bring to the boil over medium heat, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, combine the garlic, soy sauce and sesame oil in a bowl. Strain the hot water through a sieve placed over the garlic mixture and stir to combine. Stir in the sugar and black vinegar and set aside.
3. Place the noodles in a large bowl and cover with boiling water. Cover the bowl and stand for 3 minutes, then pour into a fine strainer and rinse under cold running water until cold. Drain again and divide between serving bowls.  
4. To serve, top the noodles with the cucumber and about 60 ml (¼ cup) of the garlic vinegar seasoning. Add chilli oil to taste, then garnish with coriander and spring onion and serve with the remaining chilli oil on the side.

 

Photography by Danielle Abou Karam.

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

Andrew has used fresh rice noodles here for a quick shortcut.