Pale jowar noodles under a restrained soy-mirin sesame dressing, with wilted spinach, edamame, pickled ginger and a drift of nori.

Ingredients

From the TrooFoodz pantry

• Sprouted Jowar Noodles 1 pack (200 g)

Fresh

• White sesame seeds, for toasting and grinding 4 tbsp
• Light soy sauce 3 tbsp
• Mirin 2 tbsp
• Rice vinegar 1 tbsp
• Toasted sesame oil 2 tsp
• Spinach, washed 200 g
• Shelled edamame, blanched 1 cup
• Spring onion, finely sliced 2
• Pickled ginger 2 tbsp
• Nori sheet, cut into fine strips 1
• Radish, thinly sliced 4

Method

1. Toast the sesame

   Dry-toast the sesame seeds in a pan over low heat, shaking constantly, until they smell nutty and a few start to pop. Tip them out at once so they stop cooking.

2. Grind to a paste

   Pound three-quarters of the seeds in a mortar until they break down into a coarse, oily paste. Keep the rest whole for the top.

3. Whisk the dressing

   Beat the soy, mirin, rice vinegar and sesame oil into the ground seeds until smooth. It should taste salty, faintly sweet and clean, not heavy.

4. Wilt the spinach

   Drop the spinach into boiling water for twenty seconds, lift it into cold water, then squeeze it dry in your fist and cut into short lengths.

5. Cook the noodles

   Boil the Sprouted Jowar Noodles for two minutes, drain and rinse under cold water until the strands feel cool and separate.

6. Dress lightly

   Toss the noodles with two-thirds of the dressing. Jowar is mild and takes flavour readily, so restraint here keeps the bowl clean rather than cloying.

7. Compose the bowl

   Arrange the spinach, edamame and radish in sections over the noodles, spoon over the last of the dressing and finish with pickled ginger, nori and the reserved whole sesame.

Why this works

Jowar is the most neutral noodle in the range, which is exactly what a delicate soy-and-mirin dressing needs — a stronger grain would bury it. Grinding the sesame yourself releases oils that a bought paste has already lost, giving the dressing body without cream. Squeezing the spinach hard is what keeps water out of the bowl and the dressing at full strength.

Make it your own

• Sprouted Jowar Noodles → Sprouted Foxtail Millet Noodles Firmer bite, still pale enough not to fight the dressing.
• Mirin → Rice vinegar with a little apple juice Similar sweet-sour balance without the rice wine.
• Edamame → Blanched green peas Sweeter and softer; add at the last moment.