Cold Sesame Noodles and Ted Leo

The first time I ever had Cold Sesame Noodles I was 13 years old. My mom, my sister and I were Kicking it at Epcot Center in Disney World and we stopped by the China Pavilion during our walk around the world, I loved them immediately. Unlike the dish of same name available at most take out Chinese joints, they were light and full of flavor and cold, which Orlando definitely wasn't at the time.

Alright enough reminiscing, here's a recipe.

For the noodles:

1 pound of Linguini

2/3 cup of Toasted Sesame Oil

1/2 cup Soy Sauce

1-2" piece of Ginger minced

2-3 cloves Garlic minced

2 tsp Dijon Mustard

1 tsp chili paste (or like a gallon of it if you're into it)

1/2 cup of Sesame Seeds

For the Tofu: (This is basically the same Sesame Tofu from Whole Foods)

1 pound Tofu

2-3 Scallions chopped to small pieces

1 clove Garlic minced

1/2" of Ginger minced

2 Tbsp of Honey or Agave (depending on your honey stance)

3 Tbsp of Sesame Oil

3 Tbsp of Soy Sauce

a shake or two of red pepper flakes

1/4 cup flour

garnishes;

shredded carrot

cucumber strips

jalapeno

bean sprouts

cilantro

etc.

Make the noodles first and toss them in the fridge to cool. Cook the pasta as you would normally and transfer it to a big bowl. In a small sauce pan saute the garlic and ginger in the sesame oil for a few minutes and remove from heat before it browns add the rest of the ingredients (except the sesame seeds) and stir, stir, stir. Pour the mixture on the pasta and mix, then add the sesame seeds. Cover and pop it in the fridge.

The tofu - after pressing for 15-20 minutes, slice the tofu into cutlets and panfry in peanut oil (or vegetable if you don't have peanut) over medium low heat turning regularly until brown on both sides. Remove the tofu from the pan and let cool. Slice into bite size strips and toss the tofu in the flour. Combine all the remaining ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Put the tofu back in the frying pan until nice and brown and pour the sauce mixture into the pan, cook for 2-3 minutes and remove from heat.

Start with a bowl of noodles and tofu and the rest of the assembly is entirely up to you I put everything I listed along with Chili paste and mix it up, some like it all on top. It doesn't matter it all gets eaten. I could literally eat this every day.

th Chili past Ted Leo, where to start. He's from New Jersey, he's been making awesome music for like 15 years (see: Chisel), he's Vegan. Sure he forgot the words to My Way during the one of the Rorschach reunion show's, but whatever. I love Ted Leo and you should too.

Here's a blog I found with his discography:

http://rhoim.blogspot.com/2008/07/ted-leo-discography.html