Taiwanese street food festival 台味食煮 - Day 5 - Cold noodles fantasy ： Liang Mian 黃金麻醬泡菜涼麵

On the way to school was the most exciting moment of a day when I recalled back to school life. It is only five minutes by walk from home but packed with street vendors giving it their all to lure students trade a satisfied smile with their limited pocket money. Two street foods really caught me, one is "Tempura" and the other is "Sesame Cold Noodles".

Tempura in Taiwan is not 100% the same thing we acknowledge as a Japanese dish - seafood or vegetables that have been battered and deep fried. It is more like a fried fishcake, made of surimi and flour mixture and solidify through deep frying (It is called Satsuma-age in Japan). It is served crispy with pepper powder and fried basil, you can imagine how tempting it smells!  Because I was forbidden to get deep fried food when I was a child, I could only be the company when classmates enjoy the addicted snack, hoping I could get one or two bites with puppy eyes.

Different kind of tempura you can choose from

Crispy addicted tempura from street stand

Taiwanese Sesame cold noodles is basically alkaline noodles served with sesame sauce and raw cucumber strips. The secret recipe always hidden in sesame sauce by combining different savory seasonings and ground nuts. People said it is perfectly suitable for being a summer meal when it is too warm to eat, but it is always the perfect moment for me to have this delicious meal no matter where I live.

Taiwanese sesame cold noodles- ready to go

Taiwanese sesame cold noodles

I did not look for specific ingredients for this recipe, instead, I took advantage of what I've already had in the kitchen and added my creation to enrich the whole plate. I made golden cabbage kimchi to replace monotone sesame sauce. It is simple to make and also can be a good combination with stir-fried pork. If you are a big fan of sate meal, you will definitely fall in love with this! Do not hesitate! Let's start right now!

 

Ingredients:
Golden cabbage kimchi
1. 1/2 pointed cabbage (spitskool in Holland), stripped
2. 1 carrot, 1/2 ground and 1/2 stripped
3. 3 garlic cloves, ground
4. Lemon skin, ground (optional)
5. 1 Tsp cashew nut, finely chopped
6. 1 tsp black or white sesame, ground
Cold noodles fantasy
1. 1 egg
2. 200 gram spaghetti
3. 1/2 medium cucumber, stripped

Seasonings:
Golden cabbage kimchi
1. 1 Tsp salt
2. 2 Tsp lemon juice
3. 2 Tsp sesame sauce
4. 1 tsp mirin
5. 1 tsp sesame oil
6. 1 1/2 sugar
7. 1 tsp chili powder (adjust the volume according to your preference)

Instructions:
1. Wash cabbage thoroughly under running water, drain the water and cut into 2cm* 5cm strips. Add salt and rub with both hands until it is well-combined. Leave for 2-3 hours until liquid comes out.

 

2. Put carrot ground, garlic and lemon skin in a small bowel, whisk with the rest seasonings well. Add cashew nut and sesame ground to increase the flavor and texture.

 

 

3. Squeeze the extra liquid out of cabbage and put into a lock-lock container. Add stripped carrot, combine all the ingredients with seasoning sauce. Put in the fridge and marinate for 2-3 days.

 

4. Heat the water until a boil in the sauce pan. Gently put in the eggs and cook for 5 mins. Stir it from time to time to keep the yolk in the middle. Remove from the pan and cool down in the cold water. Peel the eggshell and cut into half.

 

5. Boil water and add some salt, add spaghetti until it cooked. Drizzle some olive oil to prevent from stickiness. Set aside for couple minutes for cooling down.

6. Combine Spaghetti, golden cabbage kimchi and boiled egg. Add some cucumber strips for crunchy juicy taste.