By G. Daniela Galarza  Email

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Sauce will save the day

Happy Monday to all of you — in Houston and Honolulu and Hong Kong and Hyderabad and Helsinki! Or wherever this day finds you. Sometime in the past few weeks, I mentioned that a key to improving the taste of lackluster foods is seasoning. Salt and pepper should never be underestimated! But if you need to use up bland, bitter or tired vegetables, sauce will save the day. 

Today’s recipe pairs sauteed mushrooms and spinach with noodles and a scallion-sesame sauce that is so good, it could make damp cardboard edible.

I keep buying in-season produce and whatever looks good at the market, but after long days at the office and as many cuddles as possible with the baby, all sorts of things have started to wilt in my crisper. Mushrooms and spinach are often among the first to go. But put to use in this noodle recipe, even the most shriveled of mushrooms and limpest of greens can shine.

That’s because of this sesame sauce. The key is a full tablespoon of sesame oil. Blended with mirin, rice vinegar, soy sauce, scallions and sesame paste, it turns creamy and slick, giving everything it touches a little sparkle. 

My advice: Make extra. Double the number of scallions and quadruple the remaining ingredients so you can keep this sauce in a jar in the fridge for whenever you want to dress a pile of tender greens, sliced hothouse tomatoes, silken tofu, poached chicken, steamed rice or roasted vegetables. Like Mighty Mouse, it’s here to save the day. 

Other super sauce recipes to bookmark: Romesco | Chale | Tahini | Horseradish | Cilantro-Cashew | Any Herb Pesto | Peanut

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Today’s recipe

Photos by Peggy Cormary; food styling by Lisa Cherkasky, both for The Washington Post

Egg Noodles and Shiitakes With Scallion-Sesame Sauce

Find substitution suggestions and other tips below the recipe.

Storage: Refrigerate for up to 4 days.

Servings: 2 to 3
Total time: 35 mins

Ingredients

For the sauce

• 6 scallions, trimmed and chopped
• 1 tablespoon unseasoned rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon mirin
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon well-stirred tahini or Chinese sesame paste

For the noodles

• 6 ounces dried egg noodles, such as pappardelle, or other long pasta
• 1 tablespoon peanut oil
• 7 ounces fresh shiitake mushrooms, cleaned, stemmed and caps thinly sliced
• One (2 1/2-inch) piece fresh ginger (1 1/2 ounces), peeled and cut into thin matchsticks
• 10 ounces baby spinach leaves 
• 2 tablespoons black and white sesame seeds, for garnish

Steps

1. Make the sauce: In a blender or mini food processor, combine the scallions with the rice vinegar, soy sauce, mirin, sesame oil and tahini, and blend or process until fairly smooth. Set aside while you make the stir-fry.

2. Make the noodles: Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil over high heat. Add the egg noodles to the boiling water, reduce the heat to medium and cook according to the package directions for al dente. Drain.

3. In a wok or medium saute pan over medium-high heat, heat the oil until shimmering. Add the mushrooms and ginger, and stir-fry until the ginger softens a bit and the mushrooms release some moisture and begin to brown, 2 or 3 minutes.

4. Add the spinach and stir-fry just until slightly wilted, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the reserved sauce and cooked egg noodles, and stir-fry until everything is coated and warmed through, another 1 to 2 minutes.

5. Divide between individual shallow bowls and sprinkle generously with the sesame seeds. Serve right away.

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Adapted from “Itsu: 20-Minute Suppers,” by Julian Metcalf and Blanche Vaughan (Octopus, 2016). Tested by Bonnie S. Benwick.

Nutrition information per serving, based on 3: Calories: 420; Total Fat: 16 g; Saturated Fat: 3 g; Carbohydrates: 58 g; Sodium: 250 mg; Cholesterol: 50 mg; Protein: 15 g; Dietary Fiber: 9 g; Sugar: 5 g.

Substitution suggestions + other tips and ideas:

• Peanut oil >> other neutral oil, such as canola or grapeseed.
• Only have one kind of sesame seed? >> Use those. 
• Sesame seeds >> chopped peanuts or cashews.
• Shiitakes >> cremini mushrooms.
• Gluten-free? >> Use tamari in place of soy sauce.
• Tahini >> sunflower seed butter or nut butter of your choice.
• Allergic to sesame? >> Skip the tahini and sesame seeds, and use sunflower seed butter and sunflower seeds, or another nut butter/nut combination of your choice.
• Baby spinach >> regular spinach.

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