Help me make the version of sesame noodles I like!

December 20, 2024 2:15 PM

I used to think I didn't like Chinese or Japanese sesame noodles. I have since learned that "sesame noodles" can refer to many different dishes across many cultures, and there is one I do like: the kind with a creamy sauce (thick or thin), that tastes mostly of sesame (not peanut butter), and doesn't have spice as the main flavor (some spice is ok). It's still challenging to find recipes that result in this, specify the correct sesame components to use, and isn't mostly peanut butter. Please share your favorite creamy sesame noodles recipe with me!
posted by rhiannonstone to Food & Drink (7 answers total)

Since it sounds like you're hunting for a specific to you taste, you may want to try a few different sesame pastes.

My go-to comfort nood flavor combo is soy sauce, black vinegar, toasted sesame oil, a little sugar, a whole lot of chili crisp, and for you: mostly the sesame paste. Ratios to preference, sorry I never measure.
posted by phunniemee at 2:25 PM on December 20 [1 favorite]

My go-to is the Smitten Kitchen version.
posted by kserra at 2:25 PM on December 20 [3 favorites]

I tend to make the recipe up as I go along, but the key ingredient is Chinese sesame paste. I get it from a local Chinese supermarket. It's very thick, so you blend a couple of tablespoons with an equal amount of cold water. I then add a couple of tablespoons of light soy sauce and some Chiu Chow chili oil as I like mine quite hot (you can omit it). It you like a sour tang, a tablespoon of Chinkiang (zhenjiang) black vinegar can be used (I'd go with a tablespoon). I normally put a few crushed garlic cloves into the sauce as well. I add spring onion (scallion) and some toasted sesame seeds to the sauce along with the noodles. Throw in pre-cooked chicken or beef if you want meat in there. I tend to use broad rice noodles, but fresh Udon noodles or medium egg noodles are also good. If you add some freshly ground Szechuan pepper along with the chili oil, you have Dan Dan noodles. I wouldn't substitute tahini in this, as for me it has the wrong taste.
posted by pipeski at 2:29 PM on December 20 [4 favorites]

You may be interested in Sichuan "strange flavour" sauce, which can be used for noodles, but also many other dishes. Here's a recipe from Chinese Cooking Demystified, but you can really play with the ingredients and proportions as you wish. Not every ingredient is essential other than some kind of sesame paste, some oil, some kind of chili, soy sauce and vinegar.
posted by ssg at 3:01 PM on December 20 [1 favorite]

Is there a Trader Joe’s near you? They have “hand cut squiggly noodles” right now. Each packet contains two smaller flavoring packets / one with a spicy sauce and one with just an umami-fortified sesame paste. It sounds like you may want to try one of these noodle packets with just the sesame paste (maybe a bit of the other flavor packet just to taste)
posted by seemoorglass at 4:04 PM on December 20

I'm in the same boat where I like a lot of sesame flavor but don't want it to be peanutty. I've found using toasted sesame seeds/oil tends to help on that front--you can toast them yourself in a dry pan (keep them moving and take them off the heat when they start to smell nice) or most East Asian markets will stock them with the spices.

(On second read, I guess I'm not sure if you mean you're running into recipes where the sesame comes off more peanutty or if you mean recipes that actually include peanut butter? Hopefully this is helpful either way)
posted by Why Is The World In Love Again? at 4:56 PM on December 20

This is a Taiwanese version that I really like - and no peanut butter in the recipe, just sesame paste/tahini and sesame oil for the sesame flavour. I don't have the brand of sesame paste recommended in the recipe but usually buy from a Turkish or middle-eastern grocery so it's very pourable.

https://chejorge.com/2021/01/27/taiwanese-sesame-noodles-ma-jiang-mian/#wpzoom-premium-recipe-card
posted by lulu68 at 6:06 PM on December 20