Noodle salad with chicken and chile oil

Another attempt at a more satisfying lunch to take to work.

Noodle salad with chicken and chile-scallion oil

Adapted from Bon Appetit, April 2014

Ingredients

½ cup vegetable oil

4 green onions, thinly sliced, divided

2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon chopped fresh ginger

2 teaspoons (or more) crushed red pepper flakes

½ teaspoon five-spice powder

1 teaspoon green peppercorns

6 ounces Japanese noodles such as ramen, somen or udon

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

2 teaspoons sugar

1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

2 cups shredded cooked chicken

½ of a large cucumber, sliced in half lengthwise and then thinly sliced

4 radishes, halved and then thinly sliced

½ cup chopped cilantro (I used Vietnamese)

Method

Combine oil, 2 tablespoons green onions, garlic, ginger, pepper flakes, five-spice powder and peppercorns in a small saucepan. Cook until onions and garlic are just softened. Set aside.

Cook noodles according to directions and drain.

Combine soy sauce, vinegar, sugar and sesame oil. Set aside.

If serving immediately, toss pasta with remaining 2 tablespoons green onions, the chicken and the soy sauce mixture. Top with cucumber, radishes and the cilantro, and drizzle with the onion-garlic mixture.

The lunch drill: If taking as a lunch, combine pasta with green onions, chicken and a teaspoon of the soy sauce mixture; toss to combine. Divide among four containers. Top with cucumber, radishes and cilantro but don’t mix in until ready to eat. At lunch time, top with some more of the soy sauce dressing and mix.Top with some of the green onion garlic mixture.

Rating: Reasonably tasty, especially for a work lunch; the five-spice powder lends a nice touch. Reasonably satisfying too, which I guess isn't surprising since there are a lot more calories and carbs in this dish (603/34 a serving) than some of my usual lunch suspects. It got me through a Monday, at any rate.

Now, about those chili flakes. I opted for 2 teaspoons instead of the 2 tablespoons the original recipe called for. I have become a Minnesota resident, after all. If you like scorching heat, by all means, up the ante. But at the lower level I found it still had some wocka-wocka factor.