you don"t need to save the crystal for a special day, even water tastes better in a "Fancy Glass"

Wednesday, May 04, 2005

chicken, bok choy and spicy sesame noodles

Another favorite dish…
At the restaurant I work in, on the lunch menu, there is a fabulous dish. Spicy Sesame noodles with bok choy. This is under a special spa section of the menu. Our chef has done a lot of consulting and menu creation for Spa Cuisine, First back as the executive chef of the Sonoma Mission Inn and Spa in California. Now he is consulting with a weight loss consultancy group, and several spas in Japan, including one luxury spa and resort in Okinawa.

One of the fun things that came out of this consulting work is that we have several of the dishes on our lunch menu at the restaurant. The Sesame Noodle dish is one of my favorites. (of course I have so many favorites that it gets silly to say that)

This Dish is around 320 calories, which for such a rich creamy pasta dish- Is quite low.
I love the zing of the shichimi togarashi, (japanese seven-spice seasoning) with the balance of the rich, nutty sesame taste.

The plating for this one is great as well. A nice big light blue bowl. It looks so fresh and healthy. This is one of those great diet dishes that don’t taste like you are eating diet food.

Here is a recipe to make your own seven spice mix to liven up simple rice, vegetable or noodle dishes. Hemp seed (which can be legally sold in the US if it is treated so it can't grow)
SHICHIMI TOGARASHI
Grind together equal parts:
Dried hot chiles (japanese chile or cayenne)
Sansho (aka szechuan peppercorns)
Hemp seed
Sesame seed
Poppy seed
Dried orange peel
Roasted Nori

You can also buy Sansho at most asian food stores in europe and the states. I always have a shaker in my spice drawer.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

the sesame noodles are truly delicious - sesame is one of my favorite flavors.

Are the noodles made fresh? they taste like it!

heh on the hemp seed, I never knew you could eat it, too:-)

Anonymous said...

Nice recipe!

You like good Okinawan recipes?
Check this out:
http://okinawa-diet.com/