I have introduced my homemade "Taberu La-yu" (chunky hot sesame oil) in my blog before (here's the recipe I posted on toiro's website). It's a versatile condiment, and I love it with a wide variety of dishes.
I tweaked my original recipe for further improvement in flavor. I replaced the onion with minced shallot and scallion (one each), and also added 1/2 tablespoon mild chili pepper and 1 teaspoon of brown sugar. (I also used white sesame seeds instead of black sesame.) The result is superb.
For lunch, I made steam-fry chow mein with my tagine-style donabe, "Fukkura-san", and finished with a good drizzle of my chunky la-yu. (top photo) It was really tasty! My steam-fry chow mein is, I would say, a much healthier version compared to regular stir-fry noodles, because I use more volume of vegetables and herb toppings than the noodles. This way, I can also enjoy different textures in one dish. Here's my quick steam-fry noodle recipe.
Steam-fry chow mein with XO sauce and a drizzle of chunky la-yu
Ingredients (for 1 serving)
1 serving fresh chow mein noodles
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/2 clove garlic, thinly sliced
a small handful of snow peas, cut in half
1 tablespoon XO sauce (spicy Chinese seafood paste)
1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine
a good handful bean sprouts rinsed and buds removed
(topping)
mixture of thinly-sliced scallion, cilantro, and daikon sprouts
chunky la-yu
Procedure
1. Blanch the noodles in boiling water (cook only half-way or less). Drain and rinse in cold running water. Set aside. Combine the XO sauce and Chinese rice wine in a ramekin. Set aside.
2. In the skillet of Fukkura-san, heat the sesame oil until fragrant over medium+ heat. Add the snow peas and stir.
3. Add the blanched noodles, and top the noodles with the bean sprouts. Pour the XO sauce mixture.
4. Cover, and steam-fry for a few minutes. Turn off the heat. Uncover and stir.
5. Serve with the toppings.
Happy donabe life.
