Slightly Spicy Sesame Noodles

One of the easiest DIY Chinese dishes that can be found on the menu of many Chinese-American take-out joints are Chinese sesame noodles. My mom, Taiwan-born Han Chinese, has always been really fascinated by the strange offshoot of Chinese cuisine so growing up, she would make weird things like egg rolls and orange chicken. The sesame noodles dish on the other hand, is similar to an authentic Chinese dish but because of the way it lives in the U.S., in Chinese-American food, the sesame paste that is mixed into the noodles are often subbed with peanut butter. Not only was real sesame paste hard to find back then, it was (and still is) quite pricey.

I added a few twists to the version I had growing up. As a result, you get these vegan-friendly sesame noodles are way classier than my mom’s peanut butter noodles I posted a few years ago because these noodles are actually made with Chinese sesame paste. You might think that I’m talking about tahini but nope. The sesame seeds in tahini are traditionally hulled* and untoasted. Chinese sesame paste is made from toasted, unhulled sesame seeds. That being said you definitely do not want to use tahini for these sesame noodles because the flavor would be noticeably different.

*A few brands do make unhulled tahini because the nutritional value is better than hulled – it’s a good sale-boosting, marketing opportunity to slap on “more nutrients!” stickers on the jars too IMHO.

Note: I’m talking primarily about pastes made from white sesame seeds here because there are different kinds of sesame seeds that can make other things like golden tahini and black tahini, made from golden seeds and black sesame seeds respectively. Yes, there are a lot of sesame options. I’m not even going to go into the topic of Japanese sesame pastes…

For 4 servings:

• ¼ c. Chinese sesame paste
• ¼ c. rice vinegar
• 3 tbsp. soy sauce
• 1 tbsp. Szechuan hot pepper oil
• 1 tsp. toasted sesame oil
• 1 tsp. cane sugar
• 2 tsp. white sesame seeds
• 12 oz. Chinese wheat noodles (do not use pasta – totally different texture and flavor. Asian noodles ≠ pasta.)
  
• ¼ c. sliced green onions

Whisk together all of the ingredients except for the Chinese noodles and green onions; set aside. Prepare noodles according to package directions. Once noodles are cooked, drain and toss noodles in dressing. Garnish with green onions. Serve warm. Or cold.

Whatever floats your boat.