Jixi Cold Noodles 鸡西大冷面

How it is made

A food notice on the Jixi city government portal, published by the city's market supervision bureau in 2023, says Jixi cold noodles are made only from buckwheat flour or wheat flour, and that unlike cold noodles in other regions they are seasoned to taste salty. Over the years the dish has widened the range of ingredients it uses and taken on Northeastern tastes, which gives it a strong local character.

Noodles and side dishes as one meal

In Jixi the word lengmian (冷面) covers both the noodles and the dishes eaten with them, a single name for the staple and its sides. Locals say you cannot eat cold noodles without cold-noodle dishes (冷面菜), the chilli-dressed side dishes also known as Jixi spicy dishes. Cold-noodle shops are everywhere in the city, and inviting guests out for cold noodles is not thought of as stingy.

Where it comes from

Jixi had dedicated cold-noodle restaurants decades ago. One especially famous shop, in what was then the busy commercial district, is known to locals as Dadongjiang Da Lengmian (大东江大冷面); it has moved over the years but kept its name. According to the 2023 notice, local media had run contests nearly twenty years earlier to name a "Cold Noodle Prince" and a "Spicy Dish Queen", and some shops have since brought in South Korean-style cold noodles.

Around the city, the Korean-ethnic (朝鲜族) people of places such as Jilin Township (鸡林乡) in Jidong County (鸡东县) and Yongfeng Township (永丰乡) in Chengzihe District (城子河区) have built up rural clusters of restaurants selling cold noodles, spicy dishes, dog meat and fish hotpots. They also sell their own makgeolli (麻格里), a rice wine like Chinese yellow wine but slightly sweeter.

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