This cold noodle salad is the result of a moment of embarrasement.
I have a tight phone relationship with the lady at the other end of the line at my favorite chinese restaurant, a fact that happens simply because they have delivery, it’s chinese food after all, and they’re fast and bring me diet coke too, which is not a minor detail sometimes. If there’s coffee, yogurt, diet coke, pasta or rice to reheat, I can live a few days without leaving the house. That
aside, it has come to a point that when I say ‘…curried chicken chow fan’, she simply asks ‘do you need a diet coke too?’ and then proceeds to tell me the amount, a goodbye and hangs up. Yep, we don’t need to exchange phone numbers or
addresses because, apparently, I’m the only one asking for the same dish every single time for the last two years. Last week I went crazy and ordered chicken chow fan, and heard no curry? from the other end of the line, and then she had to laugh because frankly I need a life.
Being social is a good thing they tell me, keeps you young and active.
aside, it has come to a point that when I say ‘…curried chicken chow fan’, she simply asks ‘do you need a diet coke too?’ and then proceeds to tell me the amount, a goodbye and hangs up. Yep, we don’t need to exchange phone numbers or
addresses because, apparently, I’m the only one asking for the same dish every single time for the last two years. Last week I went crazy and ordered chicken chow fan, and heard no curry? from the other end of the line, and then she had to laugh because frankly I need a life.
Being social is a good thing they tell me, keeps you young and active.
Anyway, these sesame noodle salad was my second attempt to start cooking asian food at home, in an attempt to stop the chow fan invasion. The first one was the szechuan pork and carrots, and let me tell you, both recipes leave the chicken and rice languishing in the fridge, no matter how nice the chinese lady is on the phone.
Discovering soba noodles happened after I started this blog, those rather ugly colored strings appeared everywhere, sounding interesting and something I should, no matter what, incorporate in my life if I wanted to be a food blogger. Much like kale or coconut oil. I’m a fan now, big time, buy them in bulk almost, after the first time I ran out of them, and realized I had to trek all the way to the chinese market to buy them. As I told you before, asian food is not our thing in this country. And besides, they come in the neatest, prettiest bundles ever, all tied with a cute checkered paper – how can you not want to buy them?
There are two parts to this recipe. One is, obviously, the sesame asian noodle salad, just as you see it in the pictures, with fried shallots, green beans and onions on top of soba noodles smothered in homemade sesame mayonnaise, and the other is the mayo itself. Oh boy! Probably the best I’v ever made. Being the sesame lover that I am, it was one of those recipes that first caught my eye and I went right into the kitchen and made it. Definitely worth a gold star.
And the cold noodle salad? Worth as many gold stars as you want.
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Ingredients
For the sesame mayonnaise:
- 1 egg
- 2 egg yolks
- 2 ½ Tbs rice vinegar
- 2 ½ Tbs soy sauce
- 3 Tbs good mustard (I used ancient)
- ¼ cup toasted sesame oil
- 1 cup olive oil
- 1 ½ cups canola oil
- 1 teaspoon sriracha or similar
For the noodle salad:
- 1/2 cup sesame mayonnaise (recipe above)
- 4 portions soba noodles
- ¼ cup canola or peanut oil
- 2 cups green beans (cut into pieces (you can use frozen, but defrosted))
- 1 large shallot (thinly sliced)
- ½ cup thinly sliced green onion
- Sesame seeds (to garnish)
Instructions
For the sesame mayonnaise:
- Put egg, yolks, vinegar, soy sauce and mustard in the bowl of a food processor and process 1 minute.
- With the machine on the lowest speed, start adding the sesame oil in a very thin stream, followed by the olive oil in the same way.
- Finally add the canola oil, gradually but you don’t need to be so careful since the mayonnaise will have emulsified by now.
- Add sriracha and taste. Adjust seasonings accordingly.
- Keep refrigerated.
- Makes about 2 1/2 cups.
For the noodle salad:
- Cook noodles in abundant salted water.
- Meanwhile, heat oil in a skillet and add shallots and green beans. Cook for a few minutes, until most shallots are crispy. Transfer to a paper to drain while preparing the noodles.
- Rinse noodles under cold water and transfer to a bowl, or to the same pot where you cooked them. Add the mayonnaise and mix. Add more if you want.
- Transfer to a serving platter, and top with green beans, shallots, green onions and a sprinkle of sesame seeds.
adapted from The Silver Palate Cookbook, by Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins
I love this recipe, your sesame mayonnaise sounds delicious with the noodles.
I've never been big on Asian food but that sesame mayonnaise sounds divine. Love your photos. The noodles actually look calming, cool and delicious (that sounds weird but it's true!). Thanks for this recipe lovely (loved the story, haha! I think I need to try curried chicken chow fan if it's good enough to eat weekly!) xxx
Paula,
This post totally made me smile. . loved the story. . and love the relationship you have with your local Chinese take out place! 🙂 Awesome.
Can I tell you how happy I am to see this soba recipe on your blog?! 🙂 and this sesame mayonnaise??? OH MY GAWD. I must try this ASAP. omg, I seriously cannot wait to try this! yummmm!
And yes. . be social. . 🙂 #alwaysagoodthing 😛
I rarely eat Asian food because of the crazy high salt content, but I would love to make some of my own, as it's so tasty. This looks like a great dish to start with.
I love a nice plate or bowl of soba noodles, especially with sesame. This dish looks really tasty and pretty.
Fun story. And terrific recipe! I love sesame noodles, and this is a particularly nice version. Truly good stuff – thanks.