Spicy Cold Sesame Noodles

Spicy Cold Sesame Noodles

Summer came late this year but is making up for it by being very very hot. MIL returned to France on Monday evening and I've decided to do a spot of shopping the whole of yesterday in air-conditioned comfort at the Grand Emilia Mall, not having seen any of the Sales since they started. I'm going to spend the next 2 weeks catching up...

No, I almost didn't buy anything for myself - the bulk of the shopping has been for Baby Girl! Clothes, shoes, watch, jewellery...Though she's only 7, she's big (I'm trying to avoid the f word) and tall for her age and I need her around when I shop for her. On average she dresses in size 11 years nowadays.

The cleaning lady didn't turn up to clean the house on Monday morning. I called her the whole morning and no one answered her phone. The house is a disaster since it has not been cleaned for 3 weeks, cleaning ladies nowadays go on holiday more often than the people they clean house for.

Finally some time in the afternoon she returned my call. She was still in Sardegna. Got her return date mixed up, she would only return the next day. Hub has almost no shirts left. I should have gotten a replacement (the cleaner, not the hub) like I usually do, but with MIL around I had thought that it would be easier not to have to fit around a new cleaner's schedule.

She would come this morning. When I am expecting 3 kids for a play date with every child of mine. With lunch thrown in. Ouch.

To play safe, I've decided to roast 2 free-range chickens and fry some potatoes for the children. Later on, they'll have crepes for tea. JoW will also join us for lunch before she runs off, so I've decided to make us some Spicy Cold Sesame Noodles. With our days this hot nowadays, I think that we'll both welcome something cold.

She was worried that I would be too nice to her daughters. I was just thinking that when my kids go to a play date, they usually come home raving about the other kids' mums. Other kids never leave my place raving about how wonderful I was. That should give you an idea as to how "nice" I usually am :-).

Spicy Cold Sesame Noodles (feeds 3) :

Ramen or thin Spaghetti for 3

2 Tsp toasted Sesame Oil

2 Tsp light Soy sauce

1 slice fresh Ginger (julienned)

2 Garlic cloves (minced)

1 very small Cinnamon bark (broken to small pieces)

3 fresh or dried Bird's eye chillies (crushed)

3 Tbsp toasted Sesame Oil

3 Tbsp light Soy Sauce

3 Tbsp Chinese cooking wine

2 Tbsp Chinese rice vinegar

1 Tbsp Chinkiang vinegar

2 Tbsp Sugar or brown sugar

1 Tbsp Tahini (sesame paste)

6 Tbsp Chicken stock

Cucumbers (julienned)

Red Peppers (julienned)

Snow Peas

Toasted Sesame seeds

Scallions (chopped)

Fried shallots

Boil the ramen to al dente, toss with some sesame oil and soy sauce. Leave it to cool before chilling in the fridge for a few hours.

Mix the soy sauce, wine, vinegars, sugar and tahini in a small bowl.

Heat up the sesame oil in a little pot and fry the ginger, garlic, chilli and cinnamon pieces till fragrant.

Pour in the chicken stock and sauce mixture and stir till the sugar is dissolved. Set aside to cool before storing in the fridge for a few hours.

20 minutes before serving, combine the noodles with the chilled spicy sesame sauce. Return to the fridge till it's time to serve the dish.

Garnish with raw cucumbers, scallions, cooked snow peas etc. Top with fried shallots and toasted sesame seeds. Serve cold.

I only had cucumbers today as my scallions were dead in the heatwave and I've forgotten to buy the snowpeas yesterday. After shopping at the Grand Emilia, I had to make a big detour to find cheese for the Hub. He's going for a boys' night out tomorrow and of course I had to shop for his share of the food plus pick him up after the drinking binge. When I go for a girls' night out I still have to shop, cook and feed the kids before that; I can't believe that I have to take charge of his boys' night out too.