Spicy Sesame Ramen Salad
Photography: LAURA EDWARDS
Recipes
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Spicy Sesame Ramen Salad

The Japanese version of Sichuanese dandan noodles is tantanmen: ramen with spiced minced (ground) pork in a luxurious, punchy broth made from copious amounts of ground sesame and chilli oil. This recipe sees these flavours translated into a massively flavourful noodle salad for all seasons, served cold, but still warming and filling. If you have the chilli oil and sesame dressing ready to go (store-bought is fine), it’s really quick to put together, too.
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Photography: LAURA EDWARDS
Serves
2-4
Total Time
30 Minutes
Ingredients
2 tbsp of chilli oil, or more, to taste
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1cm piece of ginger root, peeled and finely chopped
150g of minced (ground) pork
2 tbsp of soy sauce
1 tbsp of mirin
100g of beansprouts
2 portions of ramen noodles
90-100 ml of sesame dressing (below)
1 cucumber, julienned
2 spring onions (scallions), very finely sliced at an angle
1 punnet salad cress
1 tbsp sesame seeds, crushed to the consistency of coarse sand
A few pinches of shichimi & sanshō (optional)
1 egg yolk
Method
Step 1

Open a window or put your extractor fan on. Heat the chilli oil on a medium-high heat in a frying pan (skillet) and add the garlic, ginger and pork and stir-fry for about 5 minutes, breaking the pork up as you go.

Step 2

Add the soy sauce and mirin and continue to cook for another 5 minutes or so until the liquid has reduced completely.

Step 3

Set aside and leave to cool while you prepare the rest of the dish.

Step 4

Bring a saucepan of water to the boil and blanch the beansprouts for 30-60 seconds until just cooked, then remove with a sieve or slotted spoon and run under cold water to stop the cooking.

Step 5

Allow the water in the pan to come back to the boil, then cook the noodles until a bit softer than al dente – they will firm up when you chill them, so they should seem a bit soft.

Step 6

Drain the noodles and rinse them under cold water, using your hands to toss them to make sure you remove as much residual starch as possible.

Step 7

Combine half of the beansprouts with all of the noodles and toss together with half of the dressing. Transfer to a serving dish, then layer the remaining beansprouts on top of the noodles, along with the cucumber and spring onions.

Step 8

Drizzle over the remaining sauce and extra chilli oil, if you like, then garnish with the cress, sesame seeds and spices. Place the egg yolk in the centre and mix everything well before eating.

Sesame Dressing

This recipe calls for Chinese or Japanese-style sesame paste, which is made from toasted sesame seeds, but tahini is okay, too – it will provide a lighter flavour.

Serves
2-4
Ingredients
4 tbsp of sesame seeds
180g of sesame paste or tahini
150ml of unsweetened soya milk
2 tbsp of sesame oil
3 tbsp of vinegar
1 tbsp of lemon juice
2 tbsp of sugar
2 tbsp of soy sauce
¼ tsp of salt
½ tsp of dashi powder
Method
Step 1

Tip the sesame seeds into a frying pan (skillet) and set over a medium-high heat. Cook the sesame seeds, stirring constantly, for about 10 minutes until they are noticeably more aromatic and darker in colour. Remove from the pan and leave to cool.

Step 2

Coarsely grind the sesame in a mortar, food processor or spice mill, then add the remaining ingredients and stir until the sugar dissolves. Keep in the fridge for up to a week.

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