What's For Dinner?

08/4/04

Cold Noodles with Sesame Sauce

• The Cold Noodles


• 1 lb thick spaghetti
• 3 Tbs sesame oil
• The Sesame Sauce


• 3 Tbs peanut oil
• 3 Tbs soy sauce
• 3 Tbs rice vinegar
• 6 Tbs hot water
• 1 tsp sambal oelek (or any fresh red chili paste)
• juice of one lime
• 1/2 c creamy peanut butter
• 3 Tbs brown sugar
• 3-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• The Garnishes

scallions, thinly sliced sesame seeds, toasted cilantro

2. ICombine the sauce ingredients in a blender and puree.

3. Toss the noodles with the sauce until evenly coated.

4. Serve with the garnishes.

Tips
* Experiment with different types of noodles. If you can get it, Barilla makes an even thicker spaghetti-type noodle called bucatini that works especially well.

* A little grilled or stir-fried chicken served on top of the noodles makes this dish even more of a meal.

Listener Feedback
*Barbara Scanlan recommends peeled, seeded, chopped cucumber as another garnish and adding cooked shrimp to the dish to make it a little heartier. Alternatively, she suggests adding small cubes of tofu, which should be tossed with the sauce before it's added to the noodles.

* I don’t like using tahini because it always seems to come separated, with a layer of oil on top and a desiccated, cement-like mass of sesame on the bottom. In answer to my pleas for help, two listeners offered their solutions. E. M. Dama writes that two days before using the tahini, he begins rotating the jar on his countertop. A few hours rightside-up, a few hours on its side, a few hours upside-down, and so on. “Continue rotating the mixture, he writes, “until you can actually shake the tahiniinto a smooth consistency without any oil separation. Enjoy!” Peter Levine has a faster method. “You might think me a little bizarre, “ Peter acknowledges, “but I mix tahini with a small propeller-type paint stirrer chucked into a variable-speed electric drill. Naturally you need to hold the jar firmly, but this works like a charm, and there is no ‘mud’ left at the bottom. I thought my wife would never stop laughing when she came home and found me at work on the peanut butter.”

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