Chilled Tantanmen, Made with HOT SPICE Shibikara (the tingling heat)

The only time anything sits over heat is the 5 minutes it takes to fry the pork. After that it is a matter of mixing a cold sauce, boiling the noodles and chilling them. The moment that matters is the temperature of the sauce: chill the soya milk and the white sesame paste thoroughly before you pour, and the noodles stay cold to the last mouthful.

The shake at the end is HOT SPICE Shibikara (the tingling heat). The compounds that give the two green sanshō — from Hida and from Sichuan — their tingle are weak to heat, so take the pan off, plate the dish, and only then shake it over. It is on cold noodles that the tingle and the citrus-like aroma come through clearly. On a day when you want the heat pointed elsewhere, use HOT SPICE Umakara (the savoury heat): chilli heat and the citrus of chinpi (dried mandarin peel) give you a tantanmen with no tingle in it. Either, as you prefer.

Time needed: about 20 minutes

Ingredients (serves 2)

• HOT SPICE Shibikara, or HOT SPICE Umakara: 1/2 tsp (about 1.5 g)
• Chinese wheat noodles: 2 portions
• Minced pork: 150 g
• Cucumber: 1/2
• Naganegi (Japanese long onion): 10 cm
• Shiso leaves: 4
• Garlic: 1 tsp (about 1 clove, grated)
• Ginger: 1 tsp (about 1 piece, grated)
• Sesame oil: 2 tsp
• Soy sauce: 1 tbsp (for the pork)
• Sake: 1 tbsp
• Sugar: 1 tsp (for the pork)
• Soya milk (unsweetened): 300 ml
• White sesame paste: 3 tbsp
• Soy sauce: 2 tbsp (for the sauce)
• Vinegar: 1 tbsp
• Sugar: 1 tsp (for the sauce)
• Chicken stock powder: 1 tsp

Preparation

1. Grate the garlic, then the ginger, in that order. If you have no grater, chop them finely.
2. Cut the cucumber into fine strips. Take the core out of the naganegi and shred it into shiraga negi, fine white threads. Shred the shiso leaves. Put them all in the fridge once cut.
3. Put 3 tbsp of white sesame paste into a bowl and loosen it with the 300 ml of soya milk, adding 2 tbsp at a time and mixing after each addition. Add 2 tbsp of soy sauce, 1 tbsp of vinegar, 1 tsp of sugar and 1 tsp of chicken stock powder, mix, and chill thoroughly in the fridge. Pour the soya milk in all at once and the sesame paste goes lumpy, which leaves a powdery texture in the mouth.

Method

1. Put 2 tsp of sesame oil into a frying pan over a medium heat, add the grated garlic and ginger, and fry for about 30 seconds.
2. Add the 150 g of minced pork and fry for about 3 minutes, breaking it up, until it has changed colour. Add 1 tbsp of soy sauce, 1 tbsp of sake and 1 tsp of sugar, fry until the liquid has gone, then take it off the heat, spread it out in a shallow tray and leave it to cool.
3. Bring a large pan of water to the boil and cook the 2 portions of Chinese noodles for the time given on the packet.
4. Rinse the cooked noodles under running water, rubbing them with your hands, then chill them in iced water. Drain in a colander and squeeze the water out thoroughly, gripping them in your hands. Water left in the noodles thins the sauce and blurs the edges of the flavour.
5. Pile the noodles into bowls and pour over the chilled sauce. Top with the pork, cucumber, shiraga negi and shiso.
6. Finish with 1/2 tsp of HOT SPICE Shibikara shaken over. Taste, and if it needs more, add it one shake at a time.