Cold sesame noodles with chicken
50 min · 53 g protein · 488 cals / serving
The Chinese cold noodle you crave on a warm day, made as four packed lunches: chewy wheat noodles and plenty of shredded ginger-poached chicken under a nutty, garlicky sesame dressing sharpened with vinegar and a spoon of chilli crisp, with a pile of cool cucumber, bean sprouts, carrot and green onion. The dressing travels in its own pot.
Ingredients
Chicken
- 1 2/3 lb chicken breast, boneless, skinless breasts
Noodles
- 4 1/2 oz whole wheat pasta, whole-wheat spaghetti or dried Chinese wheat noodles, uncooked
Sesame dressing
- 1 1/2 tbsp Chinese sesame paste, or tahini
- 3 tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar, or Chinkiang black vinegar
- 1 1/4 tsp honey, or 2 tsp sugar
- 2 tsp chili crisp, plus more to taste
- 2 cloves garlic, finely grated
- 1 tsp ginger, finely grated
- 1 tsp sesame oil, toasted, for the noodles
- 3 tbsp water, warm
To pack
- 2 medium cucumbers, cut into matchsticks
- 2 1/2 cups bean sprouts
- 2 medium carrots, cut into fine matchsticks
- 3 green onions, thinly sliced
- 1/3 cup fresh cilantro, leaves
- 1 tbsp roasted unsalted peanuts, chopped
Steps
- Put the chicken in a saucepan with a few slices of ginger and the green tops of the onions, add water to cover and a pinch of salt, and bring to a bare simmer. Cook gently, lid on, for 12–15 minutes, until 165°F in the thickest part. Leave it in the liquid until cool enough to handle, then pull it into thin shreds along the grain.
- Boil the noodles until just tender, drain, and rinse under cold water until completely cold. Drain very well and toss with the sesame oil so they do not stick together in the fridge.
- Stir the tahini with the soy sauce a spoonful at a time until smooth (adding it all at once makes it seize), then whisk in the vinegar, honey, chilli crisp, garlic, ginger and warm water. It should pour like double cream. Divide between four small lidded pots.
- Blanch the bean sprouts in boiling water for 1–2 minutes, then cool them under cold water and drain on a towel. Pack four containers with noodles, chicken, cucumber, sprouts and carrot.
- Scatter the green onion, cilantro and peanuts on top and add a pot of dressing to each. At lunch, pour the dressing over and toss with chopsticks until every noodle is coated.
Good to know
How long does it keep, and is it really eaten cold?
Yes, it is a cold dish by design, so it is made for a lunch box. It keeps 4 days in the fridge with the dressing in its own pot. Do not freeze it: the cucumber and sprouts turn to mush.
My dressing thickened overnight.
Sesame paste firms up in the cold. Stir in a teaspoon of warm water, or take the pot out of the fridge 15 minutes before lunch.
Can I use peanut butter instead of sesame paste?
Yes, smooth peanut butter gives a sweeter, satay-like dressing and it is about the same score.
Alternative
Per
- Calories
- 99
- Protein
- (45%)
- 11 g
- Fat
- (25%)
- 3 g
- Carbohydrates
- (31%)
- 8 g
- of which sugar
- 2 g
- Fiber
- 1 g
- Sodium
- 117 mg
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Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. General guidance, not medical advice. Talk to your prescriber. How
As written, 1951 kcal goes into the pot and 2003 g of ingredients comes out as about 1978 g of food: 99 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.