Sesame noodles with spicy fried soya mince.

 A solid easy Monday night dinner. The sesame sauce was SO GOOD. Leftovers of this also delicious. x

Sesame noodles with spicy fried soya mince

Meera Sodha’s sesame noodles with spicy fried soy mince. Photograph: David Loftus/Penguin Random House. Food and prop styling: Emily Ezekiel.

I ate something similar at my friend Ben Adamo’s and loved it. You can make all the elements ahead of time without too much fuss (with the exception of boiling the noodles), making this a great cook-ahead meal for friends.

Note: both Chinkiang black rice vinegar and crispy chilli in oil (I like the Lao Gan Ma brand) can be bought in your nearest east Asian supermarket or online. You don’t need to soak the dried soya mince before using. You’ll need a pestle and mortar to grind the peppercorns.

Prep 5 min
Cook 25 min
Serves 4

For the sesame sauce
⅓ vegetable stock cube
150g tahini
3½ tbsp crispy chilli in oil
2½ tbsp light soy sauce
4 tsp rice vinegar
4 tsp Chinkiang black rice vinegar
¼ tsp Sichuan peppercorns, ground in a mortar

For the spicy fried soya
4 tbsp rapeseed oil
4 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
2cm x 2cm piece ginger, peeled and grated
100g dried soya mince
1½ tbsp light soy sauce
2½ tbsp hoisin sauce
1½ tbsp Chinkiang black rice vinegar
1 tbsp crispy chilli in oil

For the noodles
340g ramen noodles
250g baby spinach
2 spring onions, trimmed and finely sliced

First make the sesame sauce. Crumble the stock cube into a small saucepan, pour over 150ml freshly boiled water and stir to dissolve. Stir in the rest of the sauce ingredients and put to one side.

To make the mince, put the oil in a large, nonstick frying pan on a medium heat and, when hot, add the garlic and ginger, and fry for a minute. Add the dried mince, stir to mix, then cook, stirring frequently (it may catch otherwise), for four minutes, or until the mince turns a roasted almond colour. Add 200ml water, the soy sauce, hoisin sauce, Chinkiang vinegar and crispy chilli in oil, then cook for a further five minutes, until the water has evaporated and the mince is dry. Take off the heat, cover with a lid and put to one side.

Just before serving, bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook the noodles according to the packet instructions. Using tongs or a slotted spoon, transfer the cooked noodles to a colander. Add the spinach to the boiling water, stir to cover the leaves and wilt them, then drain into the colander with the noodles.

Put the pan of sesame sauce on a medium heat, stir, bring to a brief boil, then take off the heat.

To assemble, divide the noodles between four bowls (a fancy way to do this is to take a fork, twizzle the noodles around it to make a neat little nest, then gently place the nest in the bowl and pull out the fork). Top with a quarter of the spinach, the sauce and a few spoonfuls of the mince, and decorate with the spring onions.