“Sesame” Ramen
Most of the Chinese restaurants around here charge $4 for an order of cold sesame noodles. This should cost you about 35 cents. You can add the seasoning packet from the ramen if you want, but I usually don’t. If you don’t have rice vinegar, any vinegar will work, and so will the juice of ½ lemon. I put sesame in quotes because I make this with peanut butter, but a lot of Chinese restaurants do too.

Ingredients

• 1 pack Ramen Noodles
• 2 tablespoons Peanut Butter
• 2 tablespoons Canola Oil (or vegetable or corn oil)
• ¼ teaspoon each of powdered Ginger, and Cayenne Pepper
• 1 ½ tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 ½ tablespoons rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon Sesame Oil (recommended, but not necessary)
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• Hot Sauce to taste (I like this dish extra hot)
• ¼ cup water or broth (optional)

Method

1. Mix the peanut butter with ¼ cup of the canola oil, spices, salt, pepper, hot sauce, and Ramen seasoning packet. This may require a lot of mixing; depending on the consistency of your peanut butter, but it should end up with a smooth, saucy consistency. If you feel it’s too thick, thin it out with some water.
2. Boil the Ramen for three minutes, drain and reserve.
3. Add the Ramen, to the peanut sauce, toss until mixed well. The sauce should stick to the noodles.

Note: This dish is very rich; I was only able to finish half of it in one sitting, whereas I could easily eat a whole recipe of any of the other dishes in this book. Most restaurants serve this cold, but I enjoy it warm as well.
Serves 2