Main Ingredients:

See below ingredients and instructions of the recipe

Cooking Preparation of the Recipe:

: The Noodles The Marinade
7 TB low sodium soy sauce
3 TB balsamic vinegar
3 TB sugar -- or more to taste
2 1/2 ts red pepper oil
8 ea scallions -- mostly white
: part,
: thinly sliced
3 TB cilantro -- chopped
14 oz Chinese noodles
: The Eggplant The Vegetable
: Garnish
1 lb Japenese eggplant
1 TB ginger root -- 1 1/2 oz.
: peeled
: minced
1 clove garlic -- finely
: chopped
: Reserved Marinade, from
: above
4 oz snow peas -- strings removed
: cut
: in narrow strips
1/2 lb mung bean sprouts
3 TB sesame seeds
1 ea carrot -- medium size, cut
: in
: jullienne
: Cilantro leaves -- for
: garnish

Begin by making the marinade. Combine all the ingredients (except the
noodles) in a bowl, stir them together until the sugar is dissolved.
Next, bring a large pot of water to a boil for the noodles. While it
is heating, gentl y pull apart the strands of no odles with your
fingers, loosening and fluffing them as you do so. Add the noodles to
the boiling water without any salt, and give them a quick stir w ith
a fork or a pair of chopsticks. Cook briefly until they are done but
no t overly soft, a few minutes a t most. Immediately pour them into
a colander and rinse them in cold water to stop the cooking. Shake
the colander vigorously to get rid of as much wa ter as possible, and
put the noodles into a bowl. Stir the marinade again; then pour half
of it over the noodles and toss the m with your hands to distribute
the marinade. Set the remaining marinade as ide. If the noodles
aren't to be used for a while, cover them with plastic and
refrigerate them. The flav ors, as well as the heat in the red pepper
oil, will develop as the noodles sit. Preheat the oven to 400=B0F.
Pierce the eggplants in several places and bak e them until they are
soft and their skins have shriveled, about 20 minutes , depending on
their size. Turn them over after 10 minutes so they will bak e
evenly. When the eggplants are done, remove them to a cutting board
and slice them in half lengthwise. Wh en they are cool enough to
handle, peel the skin away from the flesh. Don't worry about any
small pieces of skin that are difficult to remove - the fl ecks of
dark purple - brown ar e pretty. Shred the eggplants, gently tearing
them into 1/4 - inch strips. Add the ginger and garlic to the
reserved marinade, then the eggplant strip s. Turn the pieces over
several times to make sure all the surfaces are wel l coated, and set
them aside. Bring a quart of water to a boil with a teaspoon of salt.
Blanch the snow p eas until they are bright green; then remove them
with a strainer and rinse them in cool water. Cut them into long,
narrow strips and set them aside. Next, put the sprouts in the w ater
and cook them for about 30 seconds. Pour them into a colander, rinse
t hem with cold water, and lay them on a clean kitchen towel to dry.
Roast the sesame seeds in a pan until they are lightly colored and
smell to asty. If the noodles have been refrigerated, allow them to
come to room temperatu re; then toss them with the eggplant strips
and half the sesame seeds. Moun d them on a platter, distribute the
carrots, snow peas, and mung bean sprou ts over the noodles, and
garni sh with the remaining sesame seeds and the leafy branches of
cilantro. Pres ent the salad like this, layered and laced with the
colorful garnishes, eit her on a single large platter or on
individual plates. Once served, guests can toss the noodles and veget
ables together to thoroughly mingle the different colors, textures,
and tas tes. This salad is a combination of recipes that were
suggested to us by the Chi na scholar and cook, Barbara Tropp, author
of The Modern Art of Chinese Coo king. She thought they would be
particularly well suited to our vegetarian menu, and they are.

Variations: Instead of sesame seeds, use roasted peanuts or cashew
nuts. Bl= ack sesame seeds can also be mixed with the white. In
spring, blanched aspa= ragus tips can be used in place of the
eggplants, and long red or white rad= ishes, thinly sliced, then sli
vered, can be included among the garnishes.

Serves 4 to six.

Recipe By : Greens Cookbook/Eric Rose

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