Sometimes we like making really elaborate dishes – and sometimes, we just want something easy.  When that laziness strikes, we dig around to find a dish that’s new yet simple, and we end up with something like these noodles.  They’re tasty, and also happen to be vegan, and we adapted them from this recipe in Bon Appétit.  In making these, we also got a chance to go ingredient hunting at our local H Mart, which sells Korean food to immigrants and expats – so that was a fun experience we wrapped into making this.  Read along to see how to make this easy, spicy, vegan meal for yourself.

You’ll need:

• Sichuan peppercorns
• Scallions
• Garlic
• Black sesame seeds
• Vegetable oil
• Soy sauce
• Balsamic vinegar
• 2 ears of corn
• 3/4 pound of green beans
• 8 ounces of soba noodles
• Chili oil – either store bought, or if you want to make your own gather:
  • Star anise
  • A cinnamon stick
  • Bay leaves
  • Red pepper flakes

You can first make the sauce by measuring out a teaspoon of Sichuan peppercorns and crushing them up with the flat side of a large knife, then placing them in a bowl that can withstand heat.  Slice up 4 scallions and chop 4 garlic cloves and add those in along with 2 tablespoons of sesame seeds and 2 teaspoons of chili oil (if you’re making your own chili oil, follow the first 3 steps here).

Now warm 1/2 cup of oil in a pan over high heat, and when it just starts to smoke take it off the stove and pour it into your bowl.  Add in 1/4 cup of soy sauce and 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar and mix everything together into a sauce.  Set this aside to cool.

Meanwhile, cut the corn off each ear and trim the green beans and slice in half on the diagonal.  Bring a pot of water to a boil and place the corn in to cook for 30 seconds, then fish it all out with a slotted spoon or a spider strainer.  Place in the green beans to cook the same way for one minute, then take them out too.  Finally, place in the noodles and cook for 7 minutes, then drain them and rinse them with cool water in your strainer.  Put the noodles, corn and beans in a large bowl together and drizzle on the sauce, then mix everything together.

And now you can serve your noodles topped with extra sesame seeds, and a little more chili oil if you dare.

According to Bon Appétit this is supposed to be served chilled, but we thought it was excellent as a warm meal.  It made good use of some of the chili oil we had left over from this previous recipe, to create some nicely spicy noodles.  And it was only a matter of a little chopping, then boiling, then mixing everything together – cooking the vegetables and noodles in the same water certainly helped speed everything along.  This was a great dinner on a busy weekday when we wanted to try something new and tasty without a huge amount of effort, and it hit all our requirements:  it was meatless, even vegan, and most importantly delicious!