Name: Sichuan-style Cold Noodles
Yield: Serves 4
Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons Sichuan or regular chilli powder (see Notes); 2-3 spring onions (scallions), thinly sliced; 1 tablespoon sesame oil; 2 teaspoons caster (superfine) sugar; 2 tablespoons Chinkiang black vinegar; 5 cloves garlic, minced; 400 g (14 oz) fresh thin wheat noodles or 250 g (9 oz) dried thin wheat noodles; 2 tablespoons ground Sichuan peppercorns; 2 teaspoons sesame seeds; 4 teaspoons light soy sauce; 2 star anise; 1 Lebanese (short) cucumber, julienned; 4 cm (1½ inch) piece ginger, thickly sliced; ½ cup (125 ml) vegetable oil; Iced water

Preparation info

Serves
4

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Chinese-ish

By Joanna Hu and Rosheen Kaul

Published 2022

About

I make these noodles at work as a rapid-fire staff meal when I’m particularly busy. So simply thrown together using pantry staples and some fresh vegetables, this salad-esque cold noodle dish is a warm-weather favourite. In Chinese cuisine, raw dishes are often seasoned with oil that has been heated to a very high temperature and then cooled, imparting a ‘cooked’ flavour to what would otherwise be a bright and fresh dish. These noodles require making a quick and easy chilli oil that offers