Katrina's cold Chinese noodles

© 2009 Andrea's easy vegan cooking

We were recently treated to a dinner at the home of Katrina, one of my husbands graduate students. The food was all wonderful (I forgot my camera, of course) but I particularly wanted to share one of the recipes - a cold noodle dish - with you. It's perfect for summer, tastes fabulous and is so easy to make. I used Ancient Harvest quinoa noodles which are made with corn flour and quinoa and are gluten-free. I had considered making this with udon noodles or whole wheat spaghetti but opted for the quinoa instead, and it was perfect. I also think buckwheat noodles would be a good choice.

Katrina, who is from China and thus knows the best ingredients to use for this traditional Chinese dish, gave me a package of specially seasoned nori to use in the recipe, but I think you could use plain toasted nori as well. When she gave me the noodle recipe, Katrina told me what ingredients she used, but didn't give me any quantities, so the amounts I'm listing are what I decided to use. The finished dish tasted wonderful, but feel free to make adjustments if you disagree with my quantities.

Katrina's noodles

• 8 ounces spaghetti (I used Ancient Harvest quinoa pasta)
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon tamari or soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon Chinese black vinegar (or brown rice vinegar)
• 1/2 teaspoon red chili sauce (sambal oelek)
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1 inch fresh ginger root, cut fine (about 1 tablespoon)
• 1 large clove garlic, minced very fine
• few grinds black pepper
• 1 sheet seasoned or plain toasted nori, cut with scissors into small rectangles
• chopped cilantro, optional

1. Cook the spaghetti according to package directions al dente. When cooked, drain and rinse under cold running water to cool quickly. Drain noodles again and place in a bowl.
2. Add the oil and toss to coat the noodles.
3. Add vinegar, tamari, chili, garlic, ginger, sugar and pepper, and mix well.
4. Just before serving, add the nori. Mix some in and transfer the noodles to a serving bowl. Arrange the remaining nori over the top of the noodles.
5. Optional: Sprinkle with chopped cilantro.

Makes two average, or three to four very small servings.

© 2009 Andrea's easy vegan cooking

We served the noodles with barbecued seitan and steamed kale. The seitan was supposed to be barbecued, but since we don't currently have a barbecue, we marinated it in sauce and pan fried it in a small amount of oil. You could also broil it.

© 2009 Andrea's easy vegan cooking

Eating raw garlic doesn't agree with my digestive system, but these noodles are so good I was willing to feel a little sick in order to eat them. Maybe next time I'll try drinking a big mug of peppermint tea with my raw garlic.

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Vegan restaurant alert
Have you ever worried that the restaurant food you were told was vegan, contained animal products? If yes, then you might want to read about this startling undercover investigation taken on by two foodies in LA. It's a long but amazing post, and worth reading all the way to the end. (from quarrygirl)