Impromptu Noodle Lunch

My noodle dish ready to eat.

What would you like for lunch today? That’s a daily question Dorothy and I ask each other. Soup and sandwich? Toasted sourdough with cheese and cold cuts, or just peanut butter? Or how about noodles? Yep!

I love noodles above all other foods. I buy bags of fresh, locally made noodles at Costco in Lihue. So I’ll make something with them for lunch!

I raid my stash of Asian seasonings and ponder.

Starting from the left: Fresh Saimin noodles, Hoisin Sauce, Chinese Sesame Paste, Ponzu Sauce, Sesame Oil, Sherry Vinegar.

I stir some sesame paste, hoisin sauce, ponzu, and soy sauce together in a mixing bowl and drizzle in a bit of roasted sesame oil. I taste. This mix needs acid. Some sherry vinegar or rice vinegar. I grab the sherry vinegar because it’s on my countertop and stir in a generous dollop and taste again. Fine, but it’ll be better with some fresh garlic and ginger. So I put my chef’s knife to work on 2 garlic cloves and about 1 inch of young ginger and in they go. That’s my sauce.

Finely chopped ginger and garlic. Two of my stalwart seasonings.

I bring a quart or so of water to the boil and add the 9.5 ounce bag of fresh saimin noodles. After the water returns to the boil, I cook the noodles for 3 minutes.

Into a strainer the noodles go followed by a quick rinse under cool running tap water. After a few vigorous shakes I weigh the noodles: they’re just a tad over 16 ounces.

Give the strainer a few shakes as the water cools the noodles. Shake well to remove excess water.

I add the noodles to the sauce along with two sliced scallions and about ¼ cup of chopped parsley or basil and toss everything together with a couple of forks.

Noodles, sauce ingredients, scallions and herbs ready to be tossed.

I taste again and shake in some salt. Another quick toss, a final taste, and into two bowls go the noodles. Now that there’s food in them the bowls are happy.

I add a few cut cherry tomatoes and some cooked chicken from last night’s dinner and lunch is served.

Ready to eat!

You can use any pasta, fresh or dried, that you like. In Hawaii, fresh pasta is sold in all markets. The amount of sauce I make dresses 1 pound of cooked pasta. You could multiply this recipe any number of times depending on how many servings you decide to make. Here are amounts for two servings.

The Sauce

For 1 pound of cooked pasta here’s what you’ll need:

2 tablespoons Chinese sesame paste (NOTE: Chinese sesame paste is made with toasted sesame seeds. Tahini is not toasted)

2 tablespoons Ponzu (citrus flavored soy seasoning; substitute with soy sauce)

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon hoisin sauce

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1 tablespoon sherry vinegar or rice vinegar

2 tablespoons finely chopped ginger

1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic

2 scallions, ends trimmed, thinly sliced

½ teaspoon salt, more if needed

For added heat, you could stir in a teaspoon or so of chili paste or gochujang or sriracha sauce.

As I write this, the weather turned blustery and rainy and I might just make this dish again for lunch. Hmmm.  

The rain appears as a haze behind the coconut palm.