Pick servings, region, noodle type. The card shows sauce ingredients per serving plus total sauce volume.
Why this exists
Liang pi sauce is the entire dish. Recipes give vague 1 spoon each amounts, but Shaanxi vs Sichuan versions are completely different sauces on the same noodles. Shaanxi emphasizes sesame paste; Sichuan emphasizes chili oil.
Who this is for
Anyone trying to recreate the cold noodle they had at a Shaanxi restaurant. Cooks confused why their version tastes too sour or too bland. New Yorkers trying to replicate Xi'an Famous Foods.
How to read the result
The trick is loosening sesame paste with water first. Add water gradually until pourable. Then add vinegar, soy, sugar. Chili oil and garlic come last - they float on top. The total sauce volume gives you a sense of how wet/dry the noodle will end up. Shaanxi version is thicker (less liquid); Sichuan is thinner.
Honest limitations
Vinegar matters. Black Chinese vinegar (Chinkiang) is different from Japanese rice vinegar. Use Chinkiang for the authentic flavor. Western rice vinegar is too sweet.
Common questions
Frequently asked questions
What are the common mistakes when using Cold Noodle (Liang Pi) Sauce?
Most common mistakes come down to four habits: entering 20 when the field expects 0.2 because the field is a percentage; leaving a field blank and accepting the default without checking what it stands for; changing one input and reading a result that was calculated before the change; and quoting the output as an exact figure when the page describes it as a reference estimate. Press calculate again after any edit, and treat the number as a reference point rather than a final answer.
How do I read the result from Cold Noodle (Liang Pi) Sauce?
Read the final figure first, then come back to this section for the conditions behind it: The trick is loosening sesame paste with water first. Add water gradually until pourable. Then add vinegar, soy, sugar. Chili oil and garlic come last - they float on top. The total sauce volume gives you a sense of how wet/dry the noodle will end up. Shaanxi Keep two things apart: the number itself, which comes from the values you typed, and the assumptions it depends on, which decide whether that number is meaningful. The page sets out what a higher or lower result means for your case, so check that direction as well as the magnitude.
Can I act on the Cold Noodle (Liang Pi) Sauce result directly?
Treat it as one reference sheet before you decide, rather than as the answer itself: Vinegar matters. Black Chinese vinegar (Chinkiang) is different from Japanese rice vinegar. Use Chinkiang for the authentic flavor. Western rice vinegar is too sweet. The output describes a magnitude under the conditions you entered. It does not include what it actually costs to act, what might change while you act, or how the other side behaves. Before you commit, compare the result against reality and note which assumptions do not hold where you are.
What inputs does Cold Noodle (Liang Pi) Sauce need?
Cold Noodle (Liang Pi) Sauce takes 1 inputs: Servings. They are listed in the order they feed the calculation, so an earlier value can change a later one. Do not skip a field you do not recognise - work out what it means first, because a silently guessed value produces a number that looks reasonable and is not. Before typing anything, make sure every figure uses the same unit and the same time period.
What should I check before I run Cold Noodle (Liang Pi) Sauce?
Three checks pay for themselves. First, confirm the question you need answered is really inside the scope of this tool rather than a neighbouring one. Second, confirm that the figures you have are drawn from the same source and the same period - mixing monthly and annual numbers, or two different definitions of the same quantity, quietly distorts the result. Third, keep the key inputs written down, so that later you can tell which set of numbers produced a figure you are about to quote.
Why is my sauce clumpy? Added sesame paste to oil first. Always loosen with water.
Why too sour? Too much vinegar. Reduce 30%, add more sesame paste.
Where to buy liang pi? Asian grocer, refrigerated section. Or use thin rice noodles as a substitute.