Chinese Christmas Recipe

We had a pot-luck Chinese Christmas party in a friend's house yesterday. The delicious dishes included:

Beef stew with dried cowpeas (干豇豆烧牛肉)
Lotus roots fried with ginkgo (藕炒白果)
Mushroom braised zucchini (蘑菇焖小南瓜)
Pork tongue salad (凉拌猪舌)
Sichuan cold noodles (四川凉面)
Soy sauce chicken (酱油鸡)
Sweet-rice steamed pork ribs (糯米排骨)
Sweet and sour eggplant (糖醋茄子)
Tingling spicy fish (麻辣鱼)

I'll start with the recipe for the simplest, a very popular dish – thanks to my friend Hong Jiang.

Sichuan Cold Noodles (四川凉面)
(Hong Jiang, Newton, MA)

Ingredients

1 lb. egg noodles (4 servings)
5 tablespoons olive oil (or any vegetable oil)
3 scallions, chopped
4 tablespoons Zhenjiang black vinegar
4 tablespoons Chinese soy sauce
2 large garlic cloves, mashed
1 small piece of ginger, minced
3 tablespoons sugar
hot-pepper oil (辣椒油) to taste (optional for you, but necessary to the Sichuanese)
Chinese red-pepper oil (花椒油) to taste (optional for you, but necessary to the Sichuanese)

(all of the above are available in Chinatown's grocery stores or supermarkets)

Preparation

Whisk vinegar, soy sauce, mashed garlic, minced ginger, sugar, hot-pepper oil and red-pepper oil in a bowl until blended. Set dressing aside.

Heat ample water to boil, and add noodles. Turn off the stove as soon as the water begins to boil again, and immediately drain the water. In a large container, mix the olive oil with the drained noodles, and use chopsticks to thoroughly toss the noodles (see picture below) until they are cooled and evenly oiled. This treatment is important to avoid soggy or sticky noodles.

Serve the cooled noodles with prepared dressing. Top with scallions.