Sesame Noodle Salad
I was massively influenced to make this by Claire Thomson of the excellent 5' O’clock Apron who makes wonderful recipe reels on Instagram. I’d seen a few versions of this ‘salad’ floating around on Instagram and recipe blogs, but Claire’s video reminded me this would be an excellent recipe for our summer veg box recipients. It’s super adaptable to all sorts of veg and it makes a great dinner or lunch in the warm weather - not that we’ve been overwhelmed with sunshine this year in Northern Ireland.
I’ve made it here with mange tout and broad beans - but you could add peas, cucumber, broccoli, sugar snaps, courgettes, French beans, garlic scapes or runner beans. I think the spring onions are essential though as they add a delicious allium bite.
I know not everyone will have black rice vinegar in their cupboard so you can use white rice vinegar or balsamic vinegar instead. If you are using balsamic go easy on the honey as it’s a bit sweeter. I’ve added photos of the brands of black rice vinegar and white rice vinegar I like to use. You should be able to find them in any good Asian supermarket.
This is really filling, the dressing is quite rich, so you don’t need anything with it, but it would work well with cold chicken, salmon or some roasted aubergine.
Serves 4 as a main dish, more as a side
300g broad beans (in the pod)
100g mange tout, tops trimmed
300g dried egg or wheat noodles
1 tablespoon plus one teaspoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons tahini (sesame paste)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon black rice vinegar (or use white rice vinegar or balsamic vinegar)
1 teaspoon honey or maple syrup
A 3cm piece of ginger (about half the size of your thumb), very finely chopped or grated
1 garlic clove, very finely chopped or grated
50-75ml cold water
6 scallions (spring onions)
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds*
Crispy chilli oil, to serve
A couple of nasturtium flowers (optional)
1. Pod the broad beans. Bring a large pan of water to the boil. Add the podded broad beans and mange tout and simmer for one minute. Scoop the beans and mange tout out of the boiling water with a slotted spoon or a small sieve and run under cold water to stop the vegetables cooking further. Peel the broad beans to reveal the green loveliness.
2. Bring the water back to the boil and add the noodles to the water. Simmer until the noodles are cooked but still firm – follow the instructions on the packet. Mine took four minutes to cook. Immediately drain the noodles and run under cold water. Once the noodles are cold drain them well and add about a teaspoon sesame oil and toss to coat the noodles.
3. To make the dressing put the remaining sesame oil, tahini, soy sauce, black rice vinegar, honey, ginger and garlic in a large mixing bowl. Whisk together and once combined add 50ml of cold water. Whisk until smooth. The dressing should be the consistency of double cream, if it is still a bit thick add a bit more water and whisk again.
4. Add the cold noodles into the bowl with the dressing. Add the mange tout, broad beans and finely chopped scallions. Mix everything together until all the noodles and vegetables are coated in the dressing. Taste and add a splash more soy sauce if needed.
5. Serve the noodles with a sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds, a dollop of crispy chilli oil and a few nasturtium petals on top.
*To toast sesame seeds put them in a dry frying pan over a medium heat and cook for a couple of minutes, stirring frequently, until starting to turn golden.
