Cold Sesame Noodles with Blistered Edamame
Is this whole daylight savings thing making anyone else feel super weird?
Let's recap the last 24 hours: I met the most adorable corgi puppy in the shampoo aisle of Target and it barked at me, which caused me to frown throughout the rest of the shopping trip. I accidentally sneezed on a man while at the the asian market, we were both horrified. I accidentally bought a bunch of spinach instead of basil for my pesto. Ugh, what's wrong with me?!
Despite the last 24 hours being weird, this last week had some pretty sweet highlights. I spent a whole weekend eating, drinking, and looking at art with one of my dear friends, Michael! I played battleship for the first time ever and might have broke a world record for the longest battleship match. Reuby and I had our 3 year anniversary! We celebrated with an omakase dinner at Wako. IT WAS AMAZING. I can't really articulate how it tasted or even tell you what we had, but we sat chef side and it was great. AND it feels like summer time in San Francisco! It smells like summer and I love it. I hope it lasts a while and doesn't start raining and hailing again like last weekend.
I whipped up these Cold Sesame Noodles for lunch on Saturday and it was a great meal for a warm day. I used dried udon, but you can also make this with rice noodles or even soba noodles. This sauce is flavor packed! Nutty and creamy from the tahini, slightly spicy from the red chili flakes, and punchy from the ginger. I make a variation of this sesame sauce for so many different dishes and each time I wish I had a food processor. Unfortunately, we have zero space left in our kitchen. We are also seriously lacking in electrical outlets. One day! We will have a food processor and an abundance of outlets... and a corgi that won't bark at me.
I hope you all have a great week ahead! I saw that there is going to be a big winter storm on the other side of the country this week. Stay safe and warm friends and family! Enjoy the extra bit of light too. I'm pretty excited that there is still light out at 7pm. I was able to take pictures of our dinner at normal dinner time!
Cold Sesame Noodles with Blistered Edamame
serves 2
Materials:
1 9.5oz Package of Dried Udon - rice noodles work great too!
1/2 C Shelled Edamame
1 Shallot finely diced
2 Tbsp Sesame Oil + 1 tsp for shallot
1/4 tsp Red Chili Flakes
2 Tbsp Tahini
1 tsp Brown Sugar
2 Grated Garlic Cloves + 1 Clove chopped for Edamame
1 Tbsp Grated Ginger
2 Tbsp Soy Sauce
2 Tbsp Rice Vinegar
Toasted Sesame Seeds - Optional
Sliced Cucumbers - Optional
Scallions - Optional
Steps:
Start preparing your sesame sauce by finely dicing your shallot. Add 1 tsp of sesame oil in a skillet on medium heat. Cook shallots in sesame oil with red chili flakes and a pinch of salt and pepper until brown and soft. About 5 mins. Place in mortar and pestle and grind up shallots into a smooth-ish paste. ** If you have a food processor you can just add the cooked shallot with the ingredients in step 2 and mix it up in 20 seconds!
Mix in tahini, grated ginger, grated garlic, and brown sugar until incorporated. Add sesame oil, soy sauce, and rice vinegar to the mix and whisk until your sauce has a smooth consistency. Season with a pinch of pepper. Let chill in the fridge until you're ready to assemble noodles.
Boil noodles according to package instructions. Rinse noodles under cold water and set aside.
Add 1 tsp olive oil in a skillet on medium high heat. You want to make sure your skillet is hot! Add garlic and edamame to skillet. Cook until edges are golden brown and blistered. 5-7 minutes. Season with salt.
In a large bowl toss noodles with half of the chilled sesame sauce. Add more sauce according to personal preference. Otherwise save for another meal! Sauce will keep in the fridge for 3 days.
Garnish noodles with sesame seeds, edamame, sliced cucumbers, and sliced scallions. Add some Sambal too if you like it hot!
Serve and enjoy!