Chilled Noodles in Sesame Paste Sauce with Cucumber

What you need

• 450 g (1 lb) fresh thin Chinese egg noodles, or dried wheat noodles
• 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
• 3 tbsp Chinese sesame paste, stirred well in the jar
• 4 tbsp water, warm, to thin the paste
• 3 tbsp light soy sauce
• 2 tbsp rice vinegar, or Chinese black vinegar for a deeper flavour
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 1 tbsp chili oil, with its sediment, more to taste
• 1 cucumber, cut into thin matchsticks
• 2 scallions, thinly sliced
• 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds

Method

Restated from the original video

1. 1

   Put the sesame paste in a bowl. Add the warm water 1 tbsp at a time, stirring in one direction, until it loosens into a smooth sauce the thickness of heavy cream.

2. 2

   Stir in the soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, garlic and chili oil. Taste; it should be nutty, salty and gently tangy.

3. 3

   Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook the noodles until just tender, 2-4 min for fresh.

4. 4

   Drain, rinse under cold running water until fully cool, then shake off as much water as possible.

5. 5

   Toss the noodles with the sesame oil so the strands stay separate.

6. 6

   Divide the noodles between bowls and spoon the sauce over.

7. 7

   Top with the cucumber, scallions and sesame seeds. Mix everything together just before eating.

Imported from pickledplum.com. Recipe Grab pulled out what you need to cook it; the video stays where its author put it.