Cold sweet potato noodles

The sweet potato noodles ready to serve with ginger syrup. [Photo/Hainan Daily]

Nothing beats a cup of cold sweet potato noodles during the scorching summer in Hainan.

Made from sweet potato powder, with ginger syrup and Chinese mesona paste as accompanying ingredients, this special delicacy is surprisingly effective at reducing the summer heat without having to serve it with ice cubes.

A cup of cold sweet potato noodles sells for only 3 yuan ($0.43). "We often eat the snack and we believe it is healthy," said Zhou Yamin, a resident of the city of Wanning.

"Cold sweet potato noodles are made from everyday food materials, without any additives. It makes me feel relaxed in hot weather," Zhou added. 

In terms of cooking the dish, the only challenging step is turning the sweet potato powder into noodles. First, combine cooked powder and enough water to make a paste, then put the lump of paste into a coconut ladle with holes at its bottom and press down the paste so that noodles are pushed from the holes. Boil the noodles first and cool them as a standby. This process takes about one hour.

Apart from the basic ingredients, Chinese mesona, or xiancao - which has the effect of removing heat and cooling your blood according to traditional Chinese medicine - is also an indispensable component. Mix the Chinese mesona juice with rice milk and keep stirring the mixture; the Chinese mesona paste will begin to take shape. The paste is shiny black, cool and refreshing, soft and smooth, resilient and non-greasy. Add the mashed mesona paste and the ginger syrup to the cup with noodles in it, and you will get the freshly-cooked cold sweet potato noodles.

What's more, you can also enjoy the sweet potato noodles coupled with a sauce made of boiled garlic oil, light soy sauce, bean sprouts, beef jerky, conch meat, and shrimps. It also tastes better after adding a little chili pepper.