Name: Sesame Noodles
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 10 min
Yield: 4
Ingredients: Noodle Dough, recipe follows; Sesame Sauce, recipe follows; 2 cups Napa cabbage, julienned, for garnish; 1 cup sliced cucumber, julienned, for garnish; 1 cup watermelon radish, julienned, for garnish; 4 cups all-purpose flour; 1 cup water; 1 teaspoon kosher salt; 1 cup Chinese sesame paste or tahini; ¾ cup water; 2 tablespoons soy sauce; ½ tablespoon garlic, minced; 4 tablespoons canola oil; 1 tablespoon Sichuan peppercorns; 2 tablespoons rice vinegar; Kosher salt, to taste

2 cups Napa cabbage, julienned, for garnish

1 cup sliced cucumber, julienned, for garnish

1 cup watermelon radish, julienned, for garnish

Sesame Noodles

Cook noodles in boiling water (no salt) for 1-2 minutes, until they float.  Drain the noodles and rinse under cold water or shock in an ice bath.

Toss with sesame sauce, and julienned vegetables, and serve.

Noodle Dough

Combine the flour, water and salt in a stand mixer with the dough hook attachment, and knead the dough until smooth (3 min). Separate the dough into 4 even portions. Let rest for 30 minutes before you roll them out. You can use a pasta machine or rolling pin to roll the dough, and then hand cut the noodles.

Sesame Sauce

In a heavy-bottom mixing bowl, combine the sesame paste and water, stirring in one direction and slowly emulsifying the paste and water. If you have a heavy-duty blender, you can also blend this mixture until smooth.

Place the soy sauce and minced garlic in a soup bowl. Heat up the canola oil in a small sauté pan over high heat and when the oil is smoking, place the Sichuan peppercorns into the hot oil. Be careful of the oil popping; don’t get burned. After about 30 seconds, when the aroma of the Sichuan peppercorns fills the air, remove the pan from the heat and immediately pour this Sichuan peppercorn–infused hot oil through a small strainer into the soy sauce bowl. The hot oil will flash cook the garlic soy sauce.

Pour this soy sauce–hot oil mixture into the sesame sauce, add the vinegar and mix well. Adjust the seasoning with salt to your liking.  You can keep this in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

For Chef Shirley Chung, growing up in Beijing, meant everything was dipped in sesame sauce! Here she is reinventing another childhood favorite, lamb kabobs, and transforming it into Beijing Spiced Lamb Chops with Sesame Sauce.