Chinese Spicy Sesame Noodles With Tofu
A colorful bowl of noodles
A thick sesame and chili sauce glazes these noodles and flavors the tofu, while preserved vegetables, scallions, and peanuts provide a scattering of funkiness, freshness, and crunch. It’s a simple noodle dish, a street food from Sichuan, China, and it’s easy to put together at home, but it has a beautiful combination of contrasting flavors and textures. The sweetness of the sesame paste and oil contrasts the spicy chili oil in the sauce, while the crunchy peanuts contrast the soft tofu in the topping.
The recipe calls for Sichuan preserved vegetables. Asian supermarkets sell tons of preserved vegetables, but I didn’t see any labeled as Sichuan. I used instead a mixture of sauerkraut and bamboo shoots pickled with soy sauce, sugar, and chili oil, sold by a brand called Oriental Mascot Brand, from Taiwan. Nice funky flavor, very Chinese. When buying things like preserved vegetables, check the ingredients and the sodium content. Some of them contain some nasty stuff.
Scattering and sauce
These noodles make a great light lunch, and somehow they’re also pretty good for breakfast too.
Heat & Knives
The Recipe
Source: Land of Plenty
1 pound soft bean curd
10 ounces dried Chinese flat noodles
For the Sauce:
3 tablespoons sesame paste
3 tablespoons chili oil
2 tablespoons light soy sauce
2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
2 teaspoons sesame oil
For the Scattering:
¼ cup Sichuanese preserved vegetables
3 scallions, green parts only
¼ cup deep-fried or roasted unsalted peanuts
Set the bean curd to simmer very gently in a pot of lightly salted water
Rinse the Sichuanese preserved vegetable and chop it finely. Finely slice the scallions. Combine all the sauce ingredients in a large serving bowl.
Cook the noodles according to the instructions on the package. Then drain them well and place them in the serving bowl. Drain the bean curd and place it on top. Scatter with the peanuts, preserved vegetables, and scallions. Serve immediately.
Other Chinese recipes:
Savory Chinese Braised Pork Belly
Chinese Boiled Beef in Fiery Sichuan Broth
Hot-and-Numbing Dried Beef & Sesame Beef
September 25th, 2010 at 11:05 am
the picture itself looks so mouth watering. what more if i taste it. definitely i will cook this one. thank you for sharing the recipe!