Late Night Spicy Sesame Noodles

I had some wine and made some noodles.

I'm not sure why I made a video of it though. This is what happens when I cook at midnight.

Oh, uh in the sauce is chili oil, Sichuan peppercorn, peanuts, soy sauce, chinkiang vinegar, tahini, garlic, scallions, cilantro, sugar.

Noodles are spaghetti cooked in water w/ some baking soda to give them a bouncier texture and alkaline noodle flavor.

OK, I re-made this sober and measured out a basic recipe. It's a version of liang mian, Chinese sesame noodles. If you want to make it tastier, make the chili oil yourself or infuse the oil with the Sichuan peppercorn. This is just the quick and dirty version.

Serves 1

4 ounces spaghetti or cappelini
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
salt
1 teaspoon sichuan peppercorn
1/4 cup peanuts (roast them if you prefer)
1 medium clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons sesame paste (like tahini)
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon Chinkiang vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
2 tablespoons Chiu Chow Chili oil
small handful sliced scallions and cilantro

1. Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Add baking soda and a large pinch of salt. Add pasta. (It might not fit initisally, let is soften a bit then push it all under). Cook until al dente, stirring occasionally.
2. Meanwhile grind Sichuan peppercorns in a mortar and pestle. Add peanuts and pound to crush. Set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, combine garlic, sesame paste, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, and chili oil, most of scallions and cilantro.
4. When noodles are cooked, transfer them to the bowl using tongs. Stir to sauce them, adding a few splashes of the cooking water until the sauce has a nice loose consistency.
5. Transfer to a bowl, top with remaining cilantro and scallions, and eat.
6. Sleep well.

[mariagalleriaxi]

Late night cooking *wips out mortar and pestle*

[thegabala]

honestly this kitchen is 100% goals like holy shit, those spices and the mortar and the knives, hell yeah

[PeetahIzKewl]

perks of knowing how to cook:

it doesn't matter what's at home.

[gangshit]

Guy pulling out 40 seasonings while I'm here eating raw ramen late night

[JonSudano]

Man, I don't even bother with cutting a slit in the film on my Lean Cuisines.

[jackielegs]

“Just a late night snack”🙄
A late night snack for me is some fruit snacks and a glass of milk. This is a masterpiece.

[JazzyBlues]

this is one of my favorite videos of Kenji. I love the fact that his two adorable pups are right there in the kitchen with him the whole time, wondering what he's up to.

[thezippergunboogie]

I just realized you were humming the Indiana Jones theme. That just made this video 100x more awesome

[maryleialoha]

Holy fudgecicle you have the best serious munchie kitchen I ever saw. Bowing in respect!

[burstyplr]

Best way to present your brillant creation. enjoyed watching this

[fobo]

I love watching these when its late at night and im hungry, because if i think hard enough its almost like i've actually eaten

[ori]

When you are high as a kite at 3 am and you start to cook and every time you find a new ingredient you're like " oh hell yes!"

[rochelleangela]

Kenji, you are amazing! Just how quickly your mind works in creating the dish -- going back and forth between grabbing the ingredients and prepping them in time. More videos like this!!

[yankldoodl]

This is great... Kenji is right of the time on literally every topic... that being said, I cannot endorse tahini as a substitute for Chinese sesame paste. Chinese sesame paste is made from toasted sesame's, whereas, from what i understand, tahini is made from raw sesame. the disparity in taste is staggering... while by no means a good substitute, Peanut butter (especially a loose one) works better as a replacement. This is because the roasty notes are what really come through in the final dish. In my experience eating dishes like this in china, I always assumed they were made with peanut butter until I learned about zhimajiang (Chinese sesame paste).

[kabal]

That looks delicious 😋 and a nice well stocked kitchen with the hardware

[raidennaz]

+ ASMR
+ 1st Person
+ Actual informative annotation
+ Good ass noodle
+ Doggos


10/10

[AndresIsTight]

Imagine you're staying at Kenji's and you both go out to a party and come back around 3 totally blitzed on whatever you could find and this GEM of a human being goes into the kitchen and whips up the best god damn noodles you have ever tasted in the time it takes for noodles to cook. Chapeau

[MikePietro]

Kenji and a Go-Pro. It beats exactly 100% of whats on Food Network. How about some subtitles if Wife is asleep?!

[danielrodriguez]

Kenji could you do a series of 30 min recipes that only use 1-2 pans? It would be great for super busy people

[andrewlandrau]

This guy has everything you need to cook anything