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Black sesame noodles with mushrooms and baby bok choy

Black sesame is one of my forever flavours. I love the deep, intense nuttiness, the dramatic colour. My favourite tong sui (sweet dessert soup) is black sesame soup. When we were young, my mother would say that eating it would make our hair blacker. And have you tried the black sesame mochi balls in To Asia, With Love? Black sesame also works well in savoury applications, like in this inky noodle dish.

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A plate of stir-fried noodles with leafy greens, mushrooms, and sesame seeds, served with chopsticks on a white and blue patterned dish.

I used frozen ramen noodles here – I love the bouncy texture and the long strands. However, any noodles would work here. Many people ask what type of noodles should I use? For general noodle recipes like this one, it doesn’t really matter. Use what you have.

Black sesame noodles with mushrooms and baby bok choy

Serves

Ingredients

300 g fresh or frozen egg, wheat, udon or ramen noodles
Neutral oil
225 g mushrooms, such as fresh shiitake, oyster, trumpet, sliced
sea salt and white/black pepper
400 g baby bok choy, cut through the stem into quarters
2 scallions, trimmed and sliced
black or toasted white sesame seeds (or both), for serving

Black sesame sauce

1 clove garlic, grated
60 g black sesame paste (can also use white sesame paste or tahini)
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon chili oil/crisp
1 teaspoon soy sauce or tamari
1 teaspoon black vinegar or rice vinegar

Instructions

Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil and add the noodles. Cook according to package instructions until tender and then drain. Refresh under cold water and then drain again.
In a bowl, combine the garlic, sesame paste, sesame oil, chili oil/crisp, soy sauce or tamari and black vinegar with 3 tablespoons of water and whisk to combine. If the sauce is too thick, add a little more water, a tablespoon at a time, until completely smooth and pourable.
Heat a large wok or skillet (frying pan) on medium high heat for 2 minutes until very hot. Drizzle with 1-2 tablespoons of oil and add the mushrooms, season with sea salt and pepper and leave to cook undisturbed for 30 seconds to allow them to get a slight char. Toss and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms have softened and are golden around the edges, about 2-3 minutes. Add the greens, season with sea salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally until just wilted but still bright green, another 2-3 minutes. Add the noodles to the pan, along with the black sesame sauce and toss thoroughly until well coated. Turn off the heat.
To serve, top with scallions and sesame seeds.