Sesame Noodles

Sesame Noodles

Many years ago I had a gourmet take-out store in East Hampton called Bacchus

and one of my most popular dishes was these sesame noodles. I never cared for the ones you ordinarily got from a restaurant as I always found them pasty and gloppy from the peanut butter they all seemed to use so I came up with this lighter version using tahini instead and everyone loved it. If you can get your hands on Chinese tahini which uses toasted sesame seeds for a much richer flavor use that otherwise use the regular tahini found in every supermarket and add a bit more toasted sesame oil. If you want to make this a day ahead of time, don’t add the vegetables until 1/2 hr before serving or they will become watery and soggy. 

Sesame Noodles

Serves 4-6

dressing

1C low sodium soy sauce (I use Kikkoman)

1/4C toasted sesame oil

4T hot chili oil

1/4C rice wine vinegar

2T light brown sugar

1/4C tahini (Chinese toasted sesame tahini if possible)

1/4C finely chopped fresh ginger

4 cloves garlic

1 bu. scallions, trimmed and thinly sliced on the diagonal

1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and julienned

1 med. carrot, peeled, and julienned

1 lb. linguini

Cilantro

Black and white sesame seeds

Place the first 8 ingredients into a blender and blend for a 30 sec. or so. Set aside.

 Bring a large pot filled with water to a rolling boil, add the linguini and cook for approx. 9 min. Drain and rinse under cold water. Place into a large bowl and pour about 2/3 of the dressing over the noodles. Add the sliced scallions, cucumber and carrot and toss well to combine. Let sit for about ½ hr and then toss again. 

While the noodles are resting, place a large skillet over med. high heat and add a few T. of white and black sesame seeds to the pan. Shake gently every few seconds and cook until the seeds start to pop, then shake more often until the seeds are lightly colored. Remove from the pan and let cool. Sprinkle a few T. over the noodle and garnish with some chopped cilantro.