A round white porcelain plate holds pale translucent bean starch jelly strips coated in a glossy reddish-brown sauce, topped with garlic and roasted peanuts, with wooden chopsticks resting beside the plate.
Snacks sold in portions on streets and at markets.
Liangfen is a snack made by cooking bean starch (often mung bean, sometimes pea or potato) with water into a paste, letting it set, cutting it into strips or cubes and eating it cold with soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, sesame paste and chili oil. It is popular in northern China, including Beijing, Gansu and Shaanxi, and is also found in Sichuan and Qinghai; a 2022 article lists local varieties in Mengzhou in Henan, Zichang in Shaanxi, Nanchong in Sichuan and other places. This white bean-starch jelly differs from the black grass jelly of Guangdong and the sweet potato liangfen of Taiwan.
What
Liangfen is a soft, slightly translucent cold snack. Bean starch (often mung bean, sometimes pea or potato) is cooked with water, cooled until it sets, cut into strips or cubes and dressed with a sauce of soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, sesame paste and chili oil. This entry is about the white bean-starch jelly; the black grass jelly of Guangdong and the sweet potato liangfen of Taiwan are different foods.1,2,5,6
When
No verifiable dated record of its origin was found. A 2022 article notes that a Qin-Han origin is a folk belief without written evidence.1,2,3
Where
Liangfen is popular in northern China, including Beijing, Gansu and Shaanxi, and is also found in Sichuan and Qinghai. Local varieties include the thick mung bean jelly of Mengzhou in Henan, the mung bean jelly of Zichang in Shaanxi and the jelly of Nanchong in Sichuan. A variety from Anyue County in Sichuan is believed to have developed in the early 1900s.1,3,4
How
Whisk the starch smooth with a little cold water, stir it into the remaining water and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until thick and almost translucent. Pour into a shallow dish, cool, chill for 1 to 2 hours until firm, cut into strips and dress with garlic, soy sauce, vinegar, chili oil and sesame oil, sometimes with chopped peanuts. The 2 home recipes both use about 120 g of mung bean starch; one uses 840 g of water and cooks it for 7 to 8 minutes, while the other warns against letting the mixture boil.5,6
Why
Liangfen is cooling and appetizing, making it a common summer cold dish.4
Impact and influence
A 2022 report records more than 200 shops or companies in Zichang County, Shaanxi, tied to the local mung bean jelly.3
Legend has it that while the Xianfeng Emperor was at the Chengde Mountain Resort he heard a vendor calling out his liangfen, slipped out, ate two bowls and found he could not pay, so he left his jacket as a pledge. The next day the vendor brought the jacket back, was rewarded with 300 taels of silver, and went into the palace to teach the imperial kitchen to make the jelly.
Told in: A folk tale told around the Chengde Mountain Resort in Hebei, retold in an English-language magazine article. No record from the time was found.
This is a simplified home version, not the traditional restaurant method.
This is how I make liangfen at home. The amounts of starch, water and salt follow the mung bean liangfen on a recipe blog by a named author; a second recipe by another named author is also mung bean liangfen, and I took its warning from it. The amounts for the sauce are my own choices at home, using the ingredients both recipes mention. The jelly needs time to cool and set, so I make it a few hours ahead.
Ingredients
Mung bean starch 120 g
Water 840 ml, of which about 240 ml cold water is for mixing the starch
Salt 1/4 teaspoon
Garlic 2 cloves, crushed to a paste
Light soy sauce 15 ml (1 tablespoon)
Chinese black vinegar 15 ml (1 tablespoon)
Sugar 1/2 teaspoon
Chili oil 1 to 2 teaspoons, to taste
Sesame oil 1 teaspoon
Roasted peanuts, chopped (optional) 1 tablespoon
Steps
Put the starch and salt in a pot with about 240 ml cold water and whisk until there are no lumps.
Stir in the remaining 600 ml water, heat over medium-low and stir constantly with a spatula, scraping the sides and bottom so nothing scorches.
Cook until the mixture is thick and almost translucent but still pourable, and do not let it boil hard. I go by how it looks, not by the clock; one recipe gives 7 to 8 minutes.
Pour it while hot into a heatproof shallow dish so the jelly is about 2.5 cm thick. Let it cool at room temperature for about 1 hour, then chill it for one to two hours until completely firm.
Mix the garlic, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, chili oil and sesame oil into a sauce, taste it and adjust.
Turn the dish upside down to release the jelly and cut it with a sharp knife into strips, not too thin or they will break. Just before serving pour on the sauce, toss gently, sprinkle with peanuts and eat at once.
Tips
One recipe warns not to let the starch mixture boil, so I keep the heat at medium-low and never turn it up.
Dressed liangfen gets watery if it sits, so I pour on the sauce just before serving; this is my own habit.
