Sesame Udon Noodles Salad Recipe with Chilli Dressing

This post is a part of Sprig & Vine’s month of wellness 2019: expect Good Food Good Vibes all January long! We will be posting content throughout January that will help you kickstart the year feeling well and good, with healthy eating hacks, feel-good recipes, and tons of wellness inspiration.

We’ve all been there. In a fit of laziness, we’ve plopped down on the couch, browsed endlessly through our favourite delivery apps, and ordered from the neighbourhood Chinese restaurant. We always look to restaurants when we want any kind of noodles — pad thai, chilli garlic, lo mein, udon — it’s almost as if restaurant woks have some kind of magic that just doesn’t replicate itself at home.

But many noodle dishes are as easy to make at home as pasta, if you keep your pantry stocked with the right ingredients. For example, I always have staples like soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, Sriracha, green onions, ginger, garlic, cilantro, chillies and lime in my pantry. Add to the list a few varieties of noodles — rice, udon, and soba — and you’re set for most Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese recipes.

This simple noodle dish is quick, insanely delicious, and does not require a trip to the grocery store. It’s to save you on days when you’re too lazy to cook and you’re leaning towards ordering takeout — but you’re also too impatient to wait for it to arrive!

I would always reach for my phone to order takeout every time I craved noodles, but ever since I learnt to make simple, versatile and easily adaptable noodle dishes like this one, I look at noodles in a different light. Takeout noodles are delicious, but are extremely greasy, heavy, and carb-coma inducing. This colourful recipe lightens and brightens up noodles for a meal that is light yet satisfying.

Udon noodles are wheat noodles that are chewy, thick, and bouncy and tastes good in both stir-frys or in salads like this one. Udon tossed in a creamy, rich, nutty, salty tahini is the ideal canvas for veggies drenched in a bright, ponzu-inspired, chile dressing. And the sauce is refreshing — it’s a great dressing for Asian inspired salads, or for dipping Vietnamese summer rolls into.

The mix of the crunchy veggies on top of the creamy noodles is what makes this the perfect meal, instead of the heavy starchy noodle dishes we’re used to. This dish comes together in just the amount of time it takes to cook the udon, making it ideal for weeknight dinners or lazy weekends alike. Add this to your rotation, and feel free to substitute whatever veggies you have on hand. Make extra (don’t mix in the dressing), and bring it to work for lunch the next day.

Sesame Udon Noodles with Crunchy Veg in a Chilli Dressing

Serves: 4

INGREDIENTS

For the sesame udon:

10 oz. dried udon noodles
2 tablespoons tahini
Juice of ½ lime
A large handful of chopped coriander
Salt, to taste

For the dressing:

1 red chilli, seeds removed and finely chopped
1 2” piece of ginger, peeled and grated
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
3 tablespoons soy sauce (or tamari if gluten free)
1 tablespoon agave or ½ tsp sugar
Juice of 1 lime

For the salad:

2 cucumbers, sliced half lengthwise, then sliced on a diagonal
8-10 radish bulbs, quartered
2 stalks green onions, chopped
½ cup coriander leaves
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds

INSTRUCTIONS

Cook the udon noodles in a pot of boiling water as per package directions. Once cooked, drain and rinse under cold water to prevent the noodles from clumping together.
In a mixing bowl, add the tahini. Add salt and lime juice to taste, whisking to thin it out slightly. Transfer the cooked udon noodles to the bowl and toss lightly until well coated. Add the chopped coriander and mix.
To make the dressing, mix in all the ingredients for the sauce in a medium sized mixing bowl. Taste and adjust flavours. Add the chopped cucumber, radish, and green onions to the dressing and keep aside for 10 minutes so that the flavours meld together.
To assemble, transfer the sesame udon noodles to a serving bowl. Top with crunchy veg in the chile dressing; garnish with coriander leaves and toasted sesame seeds before serving.

If you liked this recipe, you might also like these recipes: Cold Soba Noodle Salad with Mangoes, Indonesian Gado-Gado Salad with Rice Noodles, Vegan Malaysian Laksa.