Sesame Noodles with Chili Oil

"So when are you going to make me those Asian Noodles you've been promising?"

It turns out I made them Sunday night.  We like to have a nice dinner and a movie on Sunday nights to relax in the basement.  It's sort of like a date -- except it's with my wife.  I'd like to think if we were still dating that I could impress her by cooking dinner.  As it stands, I'm just hoping that the key to her heart is through her stomach. ;-)

This recipe looked really good to me and let me buy another ingredient to add to my Asian flavor arsenal:  sesame oil.  I now have fish sauce, rice wine vinegar, and sesame oil to compliment my long-standing stash of pantry ingredients.  That opens up a lot of opportunities to make food that I love to order in restaurants.

These are all the ingredients used here.  And that's right folks, I used Ramen Noodles.  It's a much more grown-up version, though.  And I discarded the flavor packets.  But the noodles are perfect for what I was making.

Start by finely slicing 4 scallions, and then separating the whites from the greens.  Also chop up a Sichuan pepper -- or another spicy pepper of your choosing.  Add 1/2 cup of vegetable oil to a pan over medium-low heat and toss in the whites of the scallions, the diced peppers, and 1 Tbsp of crushed red peppers.  If you have sesame seeds, add those as well.  Since I didn't, I just used a dash of sesame oil.

Stir this occasionally and cook for 12-15 minutes until your scallions have turned a golden brown.

Let your chili oil cool in the pan.  Cook your noodles in salted water until al dente, rinse with cold water in a colander, and drain thoroughly.  

Then in a large bowl whisk together 1/4 cup of tahini (sesame seed paste), 1/4 cup rice vinegar, 3 Tbsp reduced-sodium soy sauce, 2 tsp. sesame oil, 1 tsp. sugar, and 3 Tbsp. of your chili oil.

Add your noodles and toss everything to coat.  Serve it in a wide bowl and top with more chili oil and the greens from your scallions.  I also added a few rings of peppers for a little more texture and presentation.

We served ours with some frozen potstickers that I dusted with brown sugar, cayenne pepper, and a little garlic salt.  I also make my own dipping sauce.

The tahini paste makes your sauce rich & thick.  The chili oil gives it great heat, and the sesame oil & soy sauce really bring home the Asian flavors you'll be expecting.  I thought this was a great noodle dish to eat on the sofa while watching a good movie.  I think it was worth the wait.