My classmates recently recommended a dish called Kao Leng Mian to me, which literally translates into “baked cold noodles”. They could not believe that I haven’t tried this dish, because it is such a popular street food in Beijing. They claimed that it was to die for, so I decided to check it out. I noticed that a restaurant called Shun Tian Fu serves Kao Leng Mian from a window, so I figured that it would be more sanitary to purchase the dish from here instead of going to the many street vendors.
As the name suggests, Kao Leng Mian is baked on a metal surface. However, “mian” as in “noodles” here does not refer to individual strands, but an entire sheet of noodle dough. The vendor first takes out the pre-made dough and places it on the hot surface, then breaks an egg over the dough, making sure to spread it out evenly. Then, he brushes on some sauce of your choice, adds in some sausages or lettuce leafs at your request, and rolls the dough up into a long strip. Afterwards, he uses a spatula to cut the strip into smaller pieces, and hands you some sharp, long toothpicks for you to eat with.
I got the standard Kao Leng Mian (8RMB) – one egg, some minced spring onions, and spicy sauce. The Kao Leng Mian had an interesting, chewy texture, but that was basically the only aspect that I liked about it. The main problem was the saltiness of the dish. The flavour of the sauce totally masked the fragrance of the egg and dough, so after the first bite I could only taste the sauce. However, the Kao Leng Mian did leave an interesting, fragrant aftertaste in my mouth that probably came from the spring onions.
SCORE: 6/10
To conclude, Kao Leng Mian is a decent street food to fill up on, if you don’t mind the saltiness. However, makes sure to drink lots of water.
ADDRESS: Chaoyang District, Huajiadi Beili, #1 business building, 2nd floor
The Beijing Foodie 