Destination
Kathmandu
The story
Laphing is Kathmandu's Tibetan cold-noodle street snack: wide, translucent, jelly-textured noodles made from mung-bean or potato starch, cut into ribbons, topped with a fierce soy-vinegar-chili-oil sauce, sliced cucumber, crushed peanuts, fresh coriander and a splash of Timur pepper. Sold from small pavement carts in Thamel, Boudhanath and around the Tibetan refugee neighbourhoods of Kathmandu, laphing is the summer snack of choice — cold, spicy, tangy, refreshing. Eaten with a spoon and a fork, straight from a small metal or plastic bowl, with a small glass of chai on the side.
Method
Brush a small rectangular tray or shallow dish (about 20 x 15cm) with the 1 tsp oil. Set beside the stove.
In a bowl, whisk the mung bean starch with 200ml of the water and the salt until completely smooth and lump-free.
Bring the remaining 600ml water to a simmer in a medium heavy saucepan.
Slowly pour the starch slurry into the simmering water while whisking constantly. Reduce heat to medium-low.
Continue whisking (do not stop — you'll get lumps) for 5 to 8 minutes. The mixture will thicken quickly, first to a milky sauce, then to a translucent glassy gel that pulls from the sides of the pan. Stop when the gel is glossy and holds its shape when the spoon is lifted.
Immediately pour the hot gel into the oiled tray, tilting to spread evenly. Cool at room temperature 20 minutes, then refrigerate at least 1 hour (or up to 24 hours). The gel should be firm and sliceable when set.
Combine chili flakes, Timur, sesame seeds, garlic and salt in a small heatproof bowl. Warm the oil in a small pan until just smoking. Pour the hot oil carefully over the chili mixture — it should sizzle vigorously. Stir. Cool briefly.
Whisk together all sauce ingredients in a small bowl.
Turn the set gel out onto a board (loosen the edges with a spatula). Slice into 2cm-wide ribbons. Divide between 4 small bowls. Top each bowl with a heavy spoon of the sauce, a spoon of chili oil (adjust for heat tolerance), cucumber batons, coriander, spring onion, crushed peanuts, extra Timur and sliced fresh chili if using. Serve immediately with a spoon and fork.
Tips
- Mung bean starch, not cornstarch. The specific translucent, jelly texture comes from mung bean starch. Cornstarch or potato starch give you a totally different (and wrong) texture.
- Whisk constantly. The starch gels within 60 seconds of the temperature rising. Stop whisking for even 5 seconds and you get lumps that ruin the texture.
- Serve cold, not room temperature. The point of laphing is the temperature contrast between cold noodles and hot chili oil. Chill the gel until it's genuinely cold before slicing.
- Adjust the chili heat. A full spoon of the chili oil is fierce. Serve a smaller amount for a milder version, or offer the chili oil in a separate dish so eaters build their own bowl.
- Better made ahead. The gel holds in the fridge 2 days. Making the sauce and chili oil ahead is fine too. Assembly to plate is 3 minutes.
More recipes
View all
Nepali-style stir-fried noodles with spiced minced buff, onion, capsicum and cabbage in a soy-Timur sauce. Kathmandu's after-school street food.
Puffed deep-fried whole wheat breads served with a spiced potato-tomato curry. Kathmandu's Saturday-morning breakfast, sold at every corner sweet shop.
Roasted black soybeans dressed with mustard oil, garlic, ginger, chilies and Timur pepper. Newari beer snack, best with a cold Gorkha lager.
Stale dry tortillas soaked in a fierce vinegar-chile brine with radishes, cabbage, cucumber and pig's-foot. Puebla's cheekiest and most controversial street snack.
Roasted wheat-flour balls stuffed with spiced sattu, served with a rustic mash of fire-roasted tomato, aubergine and potato. Bihari-Newari street food.
Thick sweetened yogurt whisked with rose water and cardamom, poured over ice into tall glasses. Kathmandu's Newari-Indian summer refresher.