Taiwanese Cold Sesame Noodles

These cold sesame noodles are one of my favorite easy-to-go dishes in Taiwan!

As the weather grows warmer, I tend to cook more cold dishes such as cold salads, grain bowls, and noodle dishes. These Taiwanese cold sesame noodles or liang mian (涼麵) tick all the boxes: it’s simple, cold, and nutritious. The chilled noodles are tossed in a tangy sesame or peanut (or both) sauce and topped with ingredients such as cucumbers, eggs, carrots, and chicken. Whenever I go back to Taiwan, I always eat these noodles at least once because it is almost anywhere from street vendors, to restaurants, to convenience stores like Family Mart and 7-11, and I also just love the dish.

The dish is customizable so you can add whatever toppings you like. I added cucumbers, eggs, and leftover rotisserie chicken. The noodles are perfect for work lunches or picnics since no heating is required. As you can see in the photos, I meal-prepped these noodles in my bento boxes. This dish comes together in about 10 minutes and is seriously one of my favorite Summer dishes!

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Taiwanese Cold Sesame Noodles

yield: 2 servings

total time: 10 min.

Ingredients:

For noodles and toppings:

• 2 c. Chinese wheat noodles, cooked

• 1/3 cucumber
• 2 eggs + 1 tsp. water
• 1 c. shredded chicken
• white sesame seeds to top, optional

For sauce (recipe from Cookinginchinglish):

• 4 tbsp. Chinese sesame paste or tahini
• 1 tbsp. smooth peanut butter, can be replaced with sesame paste
• 1½ tbsp. soy sauce
• 2 tbsp. sesame oil
• ⅛ tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. brown sugar
• 4 tbsp. water, use less if using tahini
• ½ tsp. minced garlic, grated or pressed through garlic press
• 1 tbsp. rice vinegar

Directions:

1. To make the sauce, whisk all of the ingredients together. Set the sauce aside.
2. Julienne the cucumber. You may remove the skin if you would like.
3. Whisk the 2 eggs together with 1 tsp. water and pour egg into a non-stick frying pan or with non-stick spray over medium heat. Do not scramble the eggs, just let it cook like a pancake. Place a lid on the pan and cook for about 2 min. Flip the egg pancake over without breaking it and cook for another 2 minutes. Remove the egg pancake and roll it up. Julienne the egg roll.
4. Shred some leftover rotisserie chicken or cooked chicken to yield 1 cup.
5. Boil the noodles and drain.
6. To assemble the dish, plate the noodles and add the chicken, cucumbers, and chicken. Drizzle the top with sauce and sprinkle on white sesame seeds. Enjoy!

*Nutrition facts are estimates.

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