Simple Sesame & Garlic Noodles

Author Notes

At our blog, Boy Meets Girl Meets Food, we love a good noodle dish. However, we often find that they can become quite heavy and drowned out with sauces, so yesterday we set about making a light and simple noodle dish that is a perfect accompaniment to seafood, stir-fries, and poultry alike! —boymeetsgirlmeetsfood

Test Kitchen Notes

There are some dishes that captivate you even before you're halfway through the cooking process and this simple soba noodle dish certainly qualifies as one. I loved the mellow combination of the softened garlic and the smoky nuttiness of the sesame oil. I used a cold pressed sesame oil for extracting the garlic flavors and then added a bit of dark toasted sesame oil to give it the suggest 'extra kick'. The bird's eye chilies can pack a lot of heat, so go easy on them. The toasted sesame seeds and the cucumber add a lightness to the noodles that is reminiscent of a salad, so feel free to add as much as you want. A couple of clarifications: I used Soba noodles , the other option suggested for the recipe. It had cooked to a soft yet firm consistency in 3 minutes in the boiling water. After a hotline discussion, I used untoasted sesame noodles to saute the garlic. Once the oil heated up enough to emit its signature aroma, make sure to lower the heat so that the garlic does not brown. The flavor is pleasant and mild despite using 5 cloves. A single birds eye chili was adequate to provide a sharp heat to the whole packet of noodles (9.5 oz/269 grams) used for the dish. I thought the black pepper complemented the noodles exceptionally well. —Panfusine