Me Want Food: Sesame Noodles in Five Easy Steps

So, here's the thing. I cook. A LOT. A big part of Jewish culture is sharing meals with friends, and consequently, I spend a large portion of time searching for and refining great, easy recipes. I rarely share them here, because, well, there are literally thousands of actual food blogs. But I got to thinking that perhaps the occasional easy -- and I do mean easy -- recipe post was something people might (might?)  like. Maybe? I don't know! My track record of Sticking With Things here is spotty at best, but I'm excited about this. To kick this new endeavor off, I'd like to share the following dish (originally posted over at Aiming Low); it's one of my favorite sides to make, ever, and pretty much everyone with whom I've shared the recipe has loved it.

While it was well-received when I posted it there, things took a turn for the hilarious when a series of random commenters took great pains to tell me how ugly my thumbs were. I really hadn't KNOWN I had ugly thumbs until the post, but honestly, they're right-- I do have ugly thumbs. So, if you missed it over there, enjoy it here! Come for the recipe, stay for the...ugly thumb pictures:
 
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I don’t know about you, but I’m one of those people who not only enjoys, but PREFERS her Chinese food cold, and straight from the fridge. Possibly eaten literally IN the fridge, door open, and with one of my kids’ Backyardigans forks. Because it was the closest utensil, you see.

“Elegance is leaaaaaarned….”

ANYway, I recently came across a recipe for cold sesame noodles that has many things going for it. It’s SIMPLE. It has six ingredients, it’s easy to memorize, and it takes maybe 15 minutes to make (that includes cooking time for the noodles). It’s delicious, and it tastes even better the next day. SCORE. Here it is, in five steps:

(Actual recipe appears below.)

Step 1: Boil a box of pasta. Note that it’s difficult to get a good picture of BOILING WATER.




Step 2: While the pasta is cooking, pull out your main ingredients (soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil), and shake ‘em up. NO, that’s not one of my son’s Silly Bandz that I found on the table, absentmindedly put on, and promptly forgot about until after I took this picture. I don’t even know what the hell you’re saying.






Step 3: Note that in your attempts to artistically capture your Magical Cooking Experience, you’ve effed up your counters. Because you are a winner.


Step 4: Drain pasta, rinse, toss with sauce…*




…And throw in some chopped scallions and sesame seeds. I don’t know how many. Just….SOME, okay? The rules are, THERE ARE NO RULES. Go nuts.





Step 5: Toss it all up/shake it up in the plastic bag (lazy cook’s preferred method of choice, ahoy!) and let sit in the fridge for a few hours to chill. DEVOUR!



Cold Sesame Noodles
Adapted from The Kosher Palette (a cookbook beloved by both me and Ali.)
1 lb. spaghetti-type noodles (I find thin linguini works best)
1/2 cup sesame oil
1/2 cup soy sauce (I sometimes add an extra 1/4 cup; totally depends on your taste/soy sauce brand)
1/3 cup sugar
3-5 scallions, chopped
Sesame seeds, to taste (I use about 1/4 cup)
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Boil water. Add pasta, stirring every so often so it doesn’t get clumpy. (Appetizing!) While pasta is cooking, shake up/thoroughly mix together soy sauce, sesame oil, and sugar. Chop scallions.
When pasta is done, drain, and rinse. Toss together with the sauce, scallions, and sesame seeds until well-blended. Let sit in fridge for a few hours until cool. Enjoy!

*Because I have a tiny fridge, I do this in a Ziploc bag, and try to smoosh out most of the air. It takes up less real estate in the refrigerator, and really lets the sauce soak into the pasta.