Mei Lin's Spicy Mung Bean Noodles
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This refreshing cold noodle dish is a signature from chef Mei Lin at 88 Club in Beverly Hills. It’s everything you want in a summer noodle dish. Made from easy-to-prepare mung bean jelly, the slippery noodles are served with a dressing of seasoned soy sauce and black vinegar tinged with chili crisp. They’re garnished with cucumber, scallions, cilantro and crunchy peanuts. You can make the mung bean jelly a day in advance, but don’t keep it around for much longer than that because it will lose moisture.
Note: Mung bean starch is available at Chinese markets and online. Cilantro blossoms, if using, are available seasonally at some farmers markets. This recipe makes more dressing than you will need for the noodles. Save it in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 10 days.
Make the mung bean jelly for noodles: Pour half of the filtered water in a pot and bring to a gentle simmer. Heat the water until you see small bubbles forming. The water shouldn’t be boiling; you don’t want the water to reduce because that will change the ratio of water to starch.
In a large bowl, mix the mung bean starch with the remaining water and whisk until homogeneous.
Add the mung bean slurry to the pot of simmering water and whisk constantly over medium-low heat until the mixture is thickened and has a translucent quality, indicating that the starch is fully cooked, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a heat-resistant container such as a large mixing bowl. Let sit until room temperature. Then cover with plastic wrap and cool in the refrigerator until the mung bean jelly mixture is firm and opaque white, about 4 hours. You can keep it in the refrigerator up to 2 days in advance (after 2 days it will start to dry out).
Make the vinaigrette: In a large bowl, whisk together the seasoning soy sauce, black vinegar, rice vinegar, brown sugar, sesame oil and ginger. Finely chop several of the stems from the cilantro and whisk those in too. Set aside.
Cut the noodles and assemble: When the mung bean jelly mixture is set, remove it from its container by placing a large plate or cutting board over the container and carefully flip. Grate noodles from the set jelly by using a noodle scraper or the largest holes of a box grater. Alternatively, you can cut thin strips with a knife.
Put a handful (about 1 cup) of noodles on each plate. For each serving, pour over a few tablespoons of the vinaigrette and garnish with cilantro leaves, blossoms (if using), peanuts, cucumbers, chile threads and scallions.
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