Dinner: Iced Sesame Noodles (2024)

These iced sesame noodles have become my summertime bestie. Is it hot out? If so, there’s a good chance this is going to be on the table. I’m here to share the details before we run out of summer. Imagine a rotating cast of long, slurp-able noodles (soba, pici, somen, spaghetti, etc.) tangling with a creamy sesame sauce, topped with 4-5 easy toppings. That’s the basic formula. The noodles are served family-style in a large bowl of ice water. Everyone mixes up their own individual, custom portions. So good, so fun. Definitely a Japanese-inspired concept, dovetailing, in our house, with whatever is popping up at California farmers’ markets. I encourage you to incorporate whatever your family loves and the ingredients shining at your local markets.

Building an Iced Sesame Noodle Bowl

Aside from boiling the noodles, nearly everything else here can be prepared ahead of time. It’s part of what’s great about this and what makes it a weeknight-friendly meal. I like to toss some chopped veggies (whatever is on hand – broccoli, asparagus, etc.) in the pasta water after the noodles come out, keeping the cooking to a single pot. To summarize, here are the main components of the meal:

• Noodles: Keep a selection of favorites on hand.
• Homemade sesame sauce: make ahead and refrigerate for up to a week. Recipe below. Also, consider experimenting with almond butter and/or peanut butter in place of the tahini or sesame paste for another variation.
• Toppings: I’ll list off twenty-plus favorites. Choose 4-5 for your meal.
• Side veggies: And easy boost! As mentioned above, grab something that can do a quick boil in your pasta water after you remove the noodles. More ideas below.

Let’s Talk about Noodle Options

I’ve done fantastic versions of this meal with all of the following. Think long and slurp-able on the noodle front. I also check my noodle labels to make sure they’re not wildly salted, to be honest, I’ve been caught off guard  on a number of occasions.

• Soba: I love the combination of buckwheat soba noodles and sesame and soba traditionally works well with sesame sauces similar to this one. Soba is a frequent go-to when I make this recipe and cold soba, in general, is summertime wonderful.
• Somen: These thin Japanese wheat noodles are a crowd-pleasing favorite. Especially if you have picky eaters that aren’t as receptive to brown noodles.
• Homemade pici: A hand-rolled Italian pasta, if you’re up for more of a project, cold pici really makes this whole situation something extra special.
• Spaghetti: Give whatever spaghetti you love a try. I love the Monograno Felicetti Farro Spaghetti for its texture and boosted nutrition profile (not sponsored, just a fan), and the farro plays beautiful with the creamy sesame sauce. Pictured here.

Sesame Noodle Toppings

Choose 4-5 different toppings. I feel like grated ginger is a non-negotiable here. So good. And I leave any spicy component out of the base sesame sauce so that each person can light up their bowls with whatever level of spicy they can handle.

• grated ginger: peel ginger with a spoon and grate with a microplane grater into a small bowl. Key topping!
• something spicy: favorites for this recipe include Calabrian chile oil, chile crisp, tobanjan
• toasted seeds and/or nuts: za’atar, traditional gomasio, I also make a red gomasio-ish (pictured above) that I’ll post the recipe for soon, toasted peanuts, etc.
• tomatoes: specifically, these roasted cherry tomatoes
• crunchy bits: for example,  fried shallots or crispy jalapeño pieces (WB brought these home from TJ’s a few weeks ago)
• pesto: a little dollop of pesto in your bowl along with the sesame sauce is pretty great.
• lemon zest or chopped, preserved lemons
• makrut lime leaves: thinly slivered
• kale chips
• chives
• chopped scallions
• grated carrots
• hard boiled eggs, quartered

And as we move into later summer and early fall, and the weather is still hot enough for cold noodles, but the seasonal ingredients are shifting, here are a few other ideas:

• thinly sliced, crisp apple
• toasted pumpkin seeds
• simple cauliflower
• roasted cauliflower: This variation is next on my list, iced sesame noodles plus roasted cauliflower and some of the other ingredients in this recipe as toppings – mint, arugula, chopped dates, red onion, and a spice blend of toasted pine nuts, sesame, cumin, coriander, and red pepper flakes. It’s gonna be good.
• Also! For the iced noodle bowl (above), play around. Add thin citrus slices – Meyer lemon, rangpur lime, kishu mandarin, orange, key lime are all recent favorites. You can also add fresh herbs or lime leaves or use a cold broth. I have a cold mushroom broth that works really well. The recipe for that one is in Super Natural Simple, in the back.

While You’re At It: Add a Side Veggie!

Broccoli florets, asparagus tops, green beans, yellow beans, corn – these are just a few of the vegetables I’ve cooked in a flash after cooking the noodles for the bowls. Boil for a mint or so, strain under cold water and serve on the side. Everyone loves to work the vegetables into their noodle bowls as well.

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