Cold Skin Noodles — Liangpi (凉皮)

Combine the flour and water into a smooth, firm dough. Knead briefly until cohesive, cover, and rest for 30 minutes. Place the rested dough in a large bowl of cold water and knead it under the water, repeatedly squeezing and folding, changing the water as it turns milky white. Continue until the water runs nearly clear and a cohesive, elastic mass of gluten remains in the hands. Reserve the gluten separately. The process is complete when the washing water has become a uniformly milky, starch-laden liquid.

Combine all the milky washing water in a tall vessel and leave undisturbed for a minimum of 2 hours, or until a dense white layer of starch has settled visibly at the bottom and a clear or pale yellow water sits above it. Carefully pour off and discard all the clear water. Stir the remaining thick starch slurry smooth. This is the point on which the dish lives or dies: inadequately settled starch yields opaque, heavy sheets rather than the characteristic translucent, dense noodle.

Lightly oil the base of one or more flat-bottomed metal trays or shallow dishes. Pour a thin, even layer of the starch slurry — approximately 3–4 mm deep — into each oiled tray. Set the tray over vigorously boiling water in a covered steamer or wok. Steam for 5–8 minutes. The sheet is done when it has pulled away slightly from the edges, appears set throughout, and shows a faint, even translucency across its surface.

Remove the tray from the steamer and cool completely — either at room temperature or over an ice bath — before touching the sheet. The sheet is ready to handle when it no longer feels warm to the fingertip and has firmed to a dense, slightly rubbery resistance.

Peel the cooled sheet from the tray in one piece. Cut or fold and slice into strips approximately 1 cm wide. Toss lightly with a few drops of oil to prevent sticking. Repeat the steaming and cutting process with the remaining starch slurry.

Prepare the garlic water by crushing the garlic cloves into 4 tablespoons of cold water and allowing them to steep for at least 10 minutes; strain. Stir the sesame paste smooth. Mix the chilli oil, sesame paste, garlic water, rice vinegar, and salt into a dressing. The dressing should smell sharply aromatic — garlic, sesame, and chilli distinct and assertive in equal measure.

If including the seitan, slice the reserved gluten into pieces and fry in a little oil until golden and firm on the outside. Arrange the liangpi noodles in bowls. Add the cucumber matchsticks and fried gluten if using. Spoon over the dressing generously. The finished bowl should taste simultaneously hot, nutty, sour, and saline, with no single element muted.