Jindalai
Yanji, Jilin
Order: Buckwheat cold noodles
A Xinhua report of August 2026 describes this shop's cold noodles. If you want to taste Yanji cold noodles, this is a place to start.
Checked on 2026-11-02
Ethnic Korean Cuisine of China · FFET10148
Korean-style cold noodles of Yanbian
Yanbian Korean buckwheat cold noodles in an icy, sweet-sour beef broth with sliced beef.
Mural guide
A silver-gray metal bowl of clear pale amber cold broth, ice chips and buckwheat noodles has sliced beef, half an egg, cucumber shreds, pear slices and kimchi on top, with brown chopsticks resting diagonally on its back rim.
The traditional food of China's ethnic Korean community, built on rice, soups and pickled side dishes.
Chaoxianzu lengmian is a noodle dish of the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, centered on Yanji. Cold noodles come from the Korean Peninsula, and the Yanbian version adds crushed ice and watermelon to the broth. As documented in August 2026, Yanbian cold noodles use buckwheat noodles in a broth of Yanbian yellow-cattle beef bones, topped with sliced beef, egg, cucumber, kimchi and pear. The craft of making cold noodles is on Jilin's provincial intangible heritage list, with reports giving the year as 2007.
What
Cold noodles are mostly buckwheat noodles served in an icy, sweet-sour beef-bone broth with sliced beef, egg, cucumber and kimchi, often with pear. It is a staple of Korean households and restaurants in Yanbian.1,2,3,6,7
When
The start date of Yanbian cold noodles remains unknown. The 19th-century Dongguk Sesigi mentions cold noodles in the Joseon period, but gives no year, describes the Korean Peninsula, and has not been checked against the original; the account of Korean migrants crossing the Tumen River into this area from the 1860s comes only from an April 2026 travel post.2,5
Where
The Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in Jilin, centered on Yanji. Cold noodles are also found in Jixi, Shuangsutun, Tangshan and Pei County.1,3,4
How
The method documented in August 2026 involves boiling and chilling pressed buckwheat noodles, then adding them to cooled broth made from Yanbian yellow-cattle beef bones simmered for hours; one shop simmers the bones for at least 8 hours. The Yanbian version also adds crushed ice and watermelon, with a sour seasoning mixed into the noodles.1,3
Why
The long strands stand for long life, so cold noodles are served at festivals and weddings and are called longevity noodles. This is a custom, not a tale.3
Impact and influence
The craft of making cold noodles is on Jilin's provincial intangible heritage list, but accounts give 2007 or 2011, the latter in a travel post; the official list has not been checked. A July 2025 report records the World Cold Noodle Competition held in Yanji on July 26, 2025.3,4,5
No tale about this food has been found.
Grandma Li
This is a simplified home version, not the traditional restaurant method.
This is an adapted home version. The two recipes I read are both for the water-style cold noodles of the Korean Peninsula, not for the way Yanbian shops make them, and one of them says the Yanbian style is sweeter and more sour. Yanbian uses a broth of yellow-cattle bones, while I use beef, so mine is only an adaptation. The broth amounts broadly follow one of the recipes, the freezing and noodle times follow the recipes, and the beef is cooked all the way through. One of the reference recipes names no individual author, only the publisher's name.
Ingredients
- Beef shank or chuck 400 g, in one piece
- Water, for the broth 3 liters
- White radish 100 g
- Onion half
- Scallions 2
- Garlic 6 cloves, lightly crushed
- Ginger slices 3 slices
- Dried kelp 5 small pieces, about 5 cm each
- Black peppercorns 1/2 teaspoon
- Light soy sauce, to season the broth 2 teaspoons
- Salt, to season the broth 1 1/2 teaspoons
- Sugar, to season the broth 1 tablespoon
- Rice vinegar, to season the broth 1 1/2 tablespoons (about 22 ml)
- Dried buckwheat cold noodles about 350 g (3 to 4 servings)
- Eggs 2, hard-boiled
- Cucumber 1, thinly sliced
- Asian pear 1, thinly sliced
- Vinegar and hot mustard, for the table a little of each
Steps
- Put the beef, radish, onion, scallions, garlic, ginger, kelp and peppercorns in a pot with the 3 liters of water, bring it to a boil, skim off the foam, then simmer on low for about 1.5 hours, until a chopstick goes through the beef easily.
- Strain the broth and set the beef aside. Stir the soy sauce, salt, sugar and vinegar into the broth and season it a little stronger than a soup you would drink as is.
- Cool the broth, pour it into a shallow container and freeze it for about 3 hours, until slushy, with fine ice at the edges and a semi-frozen middle.
- Boil the eggs for 10 minutes until fully set, cool them in cold water and halve them. Slice the cucumber and pear thin, and slice the cooled beef thin.
- Cook the noodles in boiling water as the package says, which for mine is 2 to 3 minutes, then rinse them twice in cold water, rubbing gently, and drain well.
- Divide the noodles among bowls, arrange the beef, egg, cucumber and pear on top, and pour in the slushy broth. Serve with vinegar and hot mustard so everyone can add their own.
Tips
- I put the noodles into the bowls right after rinsing, or they stick together, and I season the broth a little strong because chilling dulls the taste; this is my own way.
- Yanbian shops make the broth from yellow-cattle bones, and the taste differs from mine, so my beef broth is only a change that works in a home kitchen.
Allergens: wheat, soy, egg
Grandpa Li
Picks come from public lists and guides and were checked on the dates shown; places can change, so confirm before you go.
Yanji Enpingguan
Yanji, Jilin
Order: Cold noodles
A Xinhua report of August 2026 says this shop's founder won the Cold Noodle King title at the 2025 World Cold Noodle Competition.
Checked on 2026-11-02
Sources (1)
Yanji Service Building
Yanji, Jilin
Order: Yanji cold noodles
A Xinhua report of August 2026 describes this hall's Yanji cold noodles.
Checked on 2026-11-02