SICHUAN COLD NOODLES or 四(Sì)川(Chuān)凉(Liáng)面(Miàn) (V)

MAIN INGREDIENTS: alkaline noodles (wheat), soybeans, soybean sprouts, sesame oil, Sichuan pepper corns, chili oil, scallions.

HISTORY: this cold noodle dish is also known by a name that roughly translates into “over the water surface noodles.” A legend borne of Wu Zetian’s reign during the Tang Dynasty tells of the time that Wu Zetian, the only female emperor in China’s history, burnt her tongue while eating noodles with her lover. So they crafted a new way of eating noodles: “over the water surface noodles,” where freshly cooked noodles would drift on the broth’s surface, lending the image of steaming river water moving through bamboo stems. The poet Du Fu of the Tang Dynasty described this dish in a poem when he moved to Sichuan, an indication that the Sichuanese already had cold noodles during this era.