Ashlyan-fu

Set aside 300 ml of water from the total amount and stir in the cornstarch and 2 g of salt until smooth. Bring the rest of the water to a boil, pour in the starch mixture in a thin stream while stirring constantly; cook for 8 minutes over medium heat, then cover and keep on the lowest heat for another 20 minutes.

Grease a mold with 10 ml of oil, pour in the hot starch mixture, smooth it out and chill in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, until it becomes springy.

Boil the lagman or other wheat noodles in salted water until done, rinse several times with cold water and toss with 10 ml of oil.

Beat the eggs, fry a thin omelet in 10 ml of oil, let it cool and cut into strips.

For the sour dressing, heat 10 ml of oil in a saucepan, quickly melt the sugar until amber in color, pour in 200 ml of water, add the ginger, star anise and cloves. Simmer for 2 minutes, add 30 ml of vinegar, remove from heat and let cool.

For the vegetable sauce, sauté the onion, carrot, bell pepper, celery and chili pepper in 10 ml of oil for 3 minutes. Add the tomato paste, garlic, 5 g of salt, black pepper and 30 ml of vinegar, and stir.

Pour the remaining water into the vegetables, bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Let the sauce cool to room temperature, and cut the starch jelly into thin strips.

In deep bowls, arrange the cold noodles, strips of starch jelly and omelet, pour over the vegetable sauce and sour dressing; top with julienned cucumber and tomatoes and serve cold.