6 Types of Cold Noodles To Beat The Heat
When it
comes to beating the heat and satisfying your taste buds, there’s
nothing quite like a refreshing bowl of cold noodles. Dig into these
bowls of noodles from cold soba to Korean-style potato starch noodles to
liangpi.
Cold Noodles
Korean Cold Soup Noodles
(mul naengmyeon)
@ Pojeong 庖沃丁
📍 Rm 3, 78 Yinting Lu 银亭路78号3室
📞 34712581
🕒 10:30am-9:30pm
Korean-style cold soup noodles or mul naengmyeon are typically made with a chilled bone broth and potato starch noodles.
Pojeong is a Korean restaurant located by Koreatown in Hongqiao, and their signature is the cold soup noodles (¥40, 咸興冷面). The thin, stringy noodles are made fresh daily using a combination of
buckwheat flour and potato starch extruded through a custom noodle press.
These delightfully
chewy, elastic noodles are served in an icy
beef broth, topped with slivers of cucumber,
radish, pear, thin slices of beef, a sprinkle of sesame seeds, and a hard-boiled egg. Cut up the noodles for ease of enjoyment. Plus,
you also get complimentary banchan.
They also have a spicy version, but I prefer the "clean-ness" of the original.
Cold Noodles
Shanghai-Style Cold Noodles
@ Yi Gui He 逸桂禾面馆
📍 No. 107B, 1/F, 686 Xizang Nan Lu 西藏南路686号南六广场1楼107B号
📞 63338938
🕒 Daily, 6:30am-8:30pm
Shanghai-style cold noodles are usually wheat noodles cooked to a firm texture, traditionally dressed with sesame sauce and shredded cucumber. Some stores might use a combination of sesame and peanut for the sauce, and the ratio varies depending where you go.
Additionally, some might
add a splash of soy sauce, vinegar, and/or chili oil. Toppings vary
depending on where you’re ordering from, and can range from shredded
vegetables to minced meat to kaofu.
Go to any Shanghainese noodle shop. Yi Gui He
(逸桂禾面馆) is one of the better ones, but it's pricey. They sell their cold noodles for ¥29
for a bowl. However, Yi Gui He makes their own noodles and aged soy sauce in-house,
both are used in the peanut-based cold noodles. And you can taste the difference! Toppings of seitan (¥7) or fried egg (¥7) drenched in soy sauce available.
They're also famous for
their Yang Chun Noodles. (Recommended to me by noodle expert St. Cavish.)
Cold noodles at Dong Tai Xiang
Here are two other places
that are not noodle shops that also serve cold noodles: Dong Tai Xiang (东泰祥), which does all kinds of
Shanghai snacks, or Mei Xin (美新点心店), which usually sells tangyuan but
is super well-known for their cold noodles in summer.
Cold Noodles
Zaru Soba
@ Sobamichi 荞麦道日本料理
📍 689 Xianxia Lu 仙霞路689号
📞 62711258
🕒 Mon-Fri, 11:30am-2pm, 5pm-2am; Sat, 11:30am-2am; Sun, 11:30am-11pm
Zaru soba is a chilled noodle dish made from buckwheat flour, typically served with a soy sauce dip called tsuyu.
Sobamichi
is my go-to when it comes to cold soba in Shanghai. They have
seemingly endless sauce options to go with their thick, springy noodles.
The traditional tsuyu is ¥38, made with soy sauce, mirin, and
dashi. Alternative dipping sauces include “black curry sauce” (¥48),
duck broth, walnut, and more.
You can also combine the buckwheat noodles
with sides of tempura (¥78) or rice bowls.
Soba noodles at Lounge by Topgolf
If you’re looking for a quick fix for soba noodles, Lounge by Topgolf has one on their lunch menu. Yuzu soba served in a cold broth with seared miso-marinated tofu, kelp, egg, and pickled ginger. On the weekday lunch menu for ¥68, includes one starter and selected drink. Click here to read more about Lounge by Topgolf.
Cold Noodles
Soybean Milk Noodles
@ Tofu Village 豆腐村
📍 3/F, Block 1, 66 Yinting Lu 银亭路66号缤琦广场1栋3楼
📞 34687988
🕒 Daily, 11am-11pm
Soybean milk noodles or kongguksu
is a popular Korean summertime dish. It's a dish of wheat noodles in a
soup made with soybean milk, of which the consistency varies depending
on where you go.
Tofu Village
in Hongqiao does a rather thick version of soybean milk noodles (¥38,
豆浆汤面) that's more saucy rather than soupy. It's refreshing and cooling
with a mild flavor of soybeans and a hint of nuttiness. It can come
across as a bit plain, so add some banchan to the noodles to give it a
flavor boost if need be. It’s a high-protein meal, and a noodle option
that’s considered healthy.
Click here to read more about Tofu Village.
Cold Noodles
Dongbei-Style Cold Noodles
@ Lao Dao Wai
老道外小油饼砂锅居
📍 375 Hongzhong Lu 虹中路375号
📞 13701654777
🕒 Daily, 10:30am-2pm, 5pm-midnight
Dongbei-style cold noodles are similar in appearance to the Korean kind, but are ultimately different. There are variations in toppings, broth base, pickling of vegetables, seasoning, and noodle-type.
The one pictured above is from Dongbei restaurant Lao Dao Wai in Hongqiao. Their Jiamusi Cold Noodles (¥28, 佳木斯星星冷面) are served in a bone-broth soup with potato starch noodles topped with chili sauce pickled cabbage, shredded cucumber, cilantro, tomato, and hard boiled egg.
It's named after a city in Heilongjiang, where this version of noodles comes from. These noodles are thicker compared to Pojeong’s thin and whip-taut strands, but enjoyable all the same.
Dongbei-style noodles at Tofu Village
You should be able to find these cold noodles at almost any Dongbei restaurant, including Dongbei Four Seasons Dumpling King (东北四季饺子王). Tofu Village also has a version of Dongbei-style cold noodles.
Cold Noodles
Liangpi
@ Yun Cui Fang 耘粹坊
📍 225 Jiangsu Lu 江苏路225号
📞 62675888
🕒 Daily, 11am-9pm
There are many variations of liangpi, a noodle dish that originated from Shaanxi province and the northwest regions of China. For the most part, noodles are made with starch extracted from wheat dough, are translucent and flat, and have a slippery and springy texture. Toppings and flavor depends on where you go.
Yun Cui Fang is a casual eatery on Jiangsu Lu, and their liangpi is number 1 on Dianping’s 必吃榜 list for the category. Their liangpi (¥19) is made fresh in-house, as is their kaofu, which I’m presuming is made from the wheat gluten byproduct from the liangpi. The noodles have that desirably springy texture and the kaofu has a lovely yeasty aroma. Liangpi is tossed with kaofu, shredded cucumber, toasted walnuts, sunflower seeds, fragrant chili crisp, and vinegar. It’s pretty good.
The restaurant is listed on the “fast food simple meals” (快餐简餐) category of Dianping. Their menu offerings are simple, mostly noodles, a couple of stir-fries, and baozi. The dining rooms are throwback 1930s. I went after the lunch rush and the atmosphere was rather serene — I could have sat there for hours reading a book. Though the owner did say they do get busy during peak hours.
As I mentioned, there are many variations of liangpi. For an alternative option, try the liangpi (¥30) from Xinjiang restaurant Xibo, made with house-made flour noodles, chili oil, chili crisp, vinegar dressing, tofu, and shredded vegetables. Be sure to mix the noodles well before spooning them into your bowl. Click here to read more about Xibo.
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