Fold, Fallow and Plough: Cold Noodles with Cucumbers and Peanut Sauce

Pied Beauty

Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844-1889)

Glory be to God for dappled things—
For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;
For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;
Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches' wings;
Landscape plotted and pieced—fold, fallow, and plough;
And all trades, their gear and tackle and trim.

All things counter, original, spare, strange;
Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)
With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;
He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:

Praise him.

Monday, June 21, 2010

Cold Noodles with Cucumbers and Peanut Sauce

Wondering what to do with the cucumber bounty from the garden? Try this: it reminds me of my college days, when only the most cutting-edge Chinese restaurants served cold sesame noodles. Back then, we ate them topped with shredded chicken. This is the tofu version.

Cook 12 ounces of noodles (lo mein, chow mein, thin spaghetti, or whatever you prefer). Drain, reserving 1 cup of cooking water. Plunge the cooked noodles into ice water to cool, then drain again. Add the leaves only of 1 bunch of cilantro and 1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, and thinly sliced.

In a blender, mix 3/4 cup of peanut butter, 2 tablespoons mirin, 2 tablespoons soy sauce, 2 tablespoons rice vinegar, 1 tablespoon sesame oil and as much chili-garlic paste as you like. With the blender running, add as much of the cooking liquid as you need to make a sauce that is thin enough to flow but thick enough to coat the noodles.

Mix noodles, cilantro, cucumbers and sauce in a large bowl. Top with cooked tofu, shredded chicken, roasted peanuts or bean sprouts. Serve cold or cool.