Cold Sesame Noodles (Ma Jiang Mian)

The story

Cold sesame noodles are Beijing street food royalty: chewy noodles, a rich sesame-soy sauce, raw garlic bite. It is the Chinese answer to "I want noodles but I refuse to cook."

Ingredients (6 + pantry staples)

• Fresh or dried wheat noodles — 10 oz / 300 g
• Chinese sesame paste or natural peanut butter — 3 tbsp
• Soy sauce — 2 tbsp
• Black or rice vinegar — 1 tbsp
• Garlic — 2 cloves, grated
• Cucumber — 1, julienned (optional but great)

Pantry staples used (don't count toward the 6): sugar (1 tsp), hot water to loosen. Not stocked yet? See the pantry page.

Steps

1. Boil noodles, drain, rinse under cold water (cold noodles hold sauce better).
2. Whisk sesame paste, soy, vinegar, garlic, sugar and 3–4 tbsp hot water into a pourable sauce.
3. Toss noodles and sauce, top with cucumber. Eat cold.

Swaps

Peanut butter is a fully legitimate substitute — millions of Chinese students use it. Add chili crisp if you like heat.