China · Sichuan
Cold Pea Starch Jelly
A chilled, wobbling jelly cut into strips and drowned in a hot, garlicky chili-vinegar dressing. Cold, slippery and sharply refreshing.
This jelly is one of the oldest parts of the Sichuan street-snack repertoire, sold from carts on hot afternoons and eaten standing up. It earns its name from the cold it gives you rather than from anything savory, which is why the dressing has to be bold enough to cut through the slippery texture. Most of the work is patience: the mixture must set for hours before it can be cut.
Ingredients
- pea starch100 g
- garlic3 pieces
- bird's eye chili3 pieces
- chili powder10 g
- soy sauce10 ml
- black vinegar10 ml
- sugar3 ml
- chicken bouillon powder3 g
- salt3 g
- crushed peanuts5 g
- cilantro5 g
Directions
- 1
Get your ingredients ready.
- 2
Mix one hundred grams of pea starch with one hundred grams of water into a smooth slurry.
- 3
Pour six hundred grams of water into a pot, bring it to a rolling boil over high heat, then drop to low.
- 4
Pour in the starch slurry while stirring constantly until it turns thick and evenly colored.
- 5
Find a container and brush it lightly with cooking oil.
- 6
Pour the cooked starch into the container and chill it for two to four hours.
- 7
Take it out, turn it out of the mold and cut it into strips.
- 8
Chop the garlic and the bird's eye chili into mince, add ten grams of chili powder and five grams of crushed peanuts, then pour over hot oil and stir to combine.
- 9
Add ten milliliters of soy sauce, ten milliliters of vinegar, five grams of sugar, three grams of chicken bouillon powder and three grams of salt, and stir well.
- 10
Pour the dressing over the jelly, scatter cilantro over the top and serve.
Source: HowToCook · WorldBite adaptation · Unlicense source text; bilingual recipe adapted by WorldBite.