{"id":2352,"date":"2026-06-24T09:42:52","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T14:42:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rubright.com\/basement\/?p=2352"},"modified":"2026-06-25T08:51:24","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T13:51:24","slug":"another-look-at-esg-cold-noodles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.rubright.com\/basement\/another-look-at-esg-cold-noodles\/","title":{"rendered":"Another Look at ESG Cold Noodles"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"space-y-12 mb-16\">\n<div>\n<h3>Another Update from the Empire Szechuan Noodle Quest<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rubright.com\/basement\/guest-post-the-last-word-for-now-on-empire-szechuan-gourmet-cold-noodles\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">[Click here for the previous, lengthy tome from 2020.]<\/a><\/p>\n<h3>AI weighs In<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p>My occasional pen pal, Kevin, who is even more obsessed with recreating <strong>Empire Szechuan Gourmet noodles <\/strong>than I am<strong>, <\/strong>sent me a link to the <a href=\"https:\/\/coldnoodlesinsesamesauce.com\/\">newest version of the recipe (also shown below).<\/a><br \/><br \/>He asked AI for its take and got a few new suggestions, like steeping garlic and ginger in water to make\u00a0 a sort of ginger-garlic tea to use in the thin sauce. It also adds a bit of black vinegar and a dash of msg. Gone is the peanut oil for the thick sauce, which I kind of miss; If only AI could taste the noodles. Happily, I can and did. My review follows the recipe.<\/p>\n<div>\n<h3 class=\"text-2xl font-serif text-foreground mb-4\">Step 1: The Noodles<\/h3>\n<p class=\"text-muted-foreground text-lg\">Use fresh, thin Chinese egg noodles (sometimes labeled as &#8220;Hong Kong style&#8221; or &#8220;Lo Mein&#8221; noodles). Cook them just until al dente, rinse them under freezing cold water until they are totally stripped of surface starch, drain them aggressively, and toss them with a little plain vegetable oil so they don&#8217;t stick.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"bg-card border-2 border-secondary\/20 p-8 rounded-sm shadow-md\">\n<h3 class=\"text-xl font-serif text-secondary border-b border-secondary\/20 pb-4 mb-6 uppercase tracking-widest\">Step 2: The Base Liquid (The Thin Liquid)<\/h3>\n<p class=\"text-muted-foreground mb-6 italic\">Whisk these together until the sugar completely dissolves. It should be thin, dark brown, sweet, savory, and mildly complex.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"space-y-4 font-medium text-lg\">\n<li class=\"flex justify-between items-center border-b border-border\/50 pb-2\">Light Soy Sauce <strong><span class=\"text-secondary font-bold\">3 tbsp<\/span><\/strong><\/li>\n<li class=\"flex justify-between items-center border-b border-border\/50 pb-2\"><span class=\"max-w-[70%]\">Garlic-Ginger Water (Steep 3 smashed garlic cloves and 1 slice of ginger in 1\/4 cup warm water for 15 mins, then strain) <\/span><strong><span class=\"text-secondary font-bold\">2 tbsp<\/span><\/strong><\/li>\n<li class=\"flex justify-between items-center border-b border-border\/50 pb-2\">Chinkiang Black Vinegar <strong><span class=\"text-secondary font-bold\">1 tbsp<\/span><\/strong><\/li>\n<li class=\"flex justify-between items-center border-b border-border\/50 pb-2\">White Granulated Sugar <strong><span class=\"text-secondary font-bold\">1 tbsp<\/span><\/strong><\/li>\n<li class=\"flex justify-between items-center border-b border-border\/50 pb-2\">MSG <strong><span class=\"text-secondary font-bold\">1\/4 tsp<\/span><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"bg-card border-2 border-secondary\/20 p-8 rounded-sm shadow-md\">\n<h3 class=\"text-xl font-serif text-secondary border-b border-secondary\/20 pb-4 mb-6 uppercase tracking-widest\">Step 3: The Nut Paste (The Thick Topping)<\/h3>\n<p class=\"text-muted-foreground mb-6 italic\">Whisk the sesame paste and peanut butter together, then gradually stream in the sesame oil until it is smooth but thick enough to hold its shape when ladled.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"space-y-4 font-medium text-lg\">\n<li class=\"flex justify-between items-center border-b border-border\/50 pb-2\"><span class=\"max-w-[70%]\">Chinese Toasted Sesame Paste (Must be the oil-topped jarred kind made from roasted seeds, like Wangzhihe brand) <\/span><strong><span class=\"text-secondary font-bold\">3 tbsp<\/span><\/strong><\/li>\n<li class=\"flex justify-between items-center border-b border-border\/50 pb-2\"><span class=\"max-w-[70%]\">Smooth Peanut Butter (Skippy or Jif \u2014 do not use natural\/organic peanut butter here, as it lacks the emulsifiers used in the 80s) <\/span><strong><span class=\"text-secondary font-bold\">1 tbsp<\/span><\/strong><\/li>\n<li class=\"flex justify-between items-center border-b border-border\/50 pb-2\">Toasted Sesame Oil (To loosen the paste) <strong><span class=\"text-secondary font-bold\">1 to 2 tbsp<\/span><\/strong><\/li>\n<li class=\"flex justify-between items-center border-b border-border\/50 pb-2\">Optional: Splash of pure Szechuan chili oil (no flakes) for a hint of warmth.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"max-w-2xl mx-auto space-y-8 mb-16\">\n<h3 class=\"text-2xl font-serif text-center text-foreground mb-8\">To Assemble:<\/h3>\n<div class=\"flex gap-6 items-start group\">\n<div class=\"flex-shrink-0 w-12 h-12 rounded-full bg-secondary text-secondary-foreground flex items-center justify-center font-serif text-2xl group-hover:scale-110 transition-transform shadow-md\">1. Pour the Thin Base Liquid into the bottom of a shallow bowl.<\/div>\n<div>\u00a0<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"flex gap-6 items-start group\">\n<div class=\"flex-shrink-0 w-12 h-12 rounded-full bg-secondary text-secondary-foreground flex items-center justify-center font-serif text-2xl group-hover:scale-110 transition-transform shadow-md\">2. Nest the cold, dry noodles directly on top of the liquid.<\/div>\n<div>\u00a0<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"flex gap-6 items-start group\">\n<div class=\"flex-shrink-0 w-12 h-12 rounded-full bg-secondary text-secondary-foreground flex items-center justify-center font-serif text-2xl group-hover:scale-110 transition-transform shadow-md\">3. Spoon the heavy Nut Paste right over the center of the noodles.<\/div>\n<div>\u00a0<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"flex gap-6 items-start group\">\n<div class=\"flex-shrink-0 w-12 h-12 rounded-full bg-secondary text-secondary-foreground flex items-center justify-center font-serif text-2xl group-hover:scale-110 transition-transform shadow-md\">4. Top with a mountain of finely julienned, peeled cucumber (which cuts the richness) and finely sliced scallions. (A mountain? A small mound will suffice.)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.rubright.com\/basement\/wp-content\/uploads\/noodles1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" src=\"http:\/\/www.rubright.com\/basement\/wp-content\/uploads\/noodles1-1024x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1946\" style=\"width:266px;height:auto\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.rubright.com\/basement\/wp-content\/uploads\/noodles1-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, http:\/\/www.rubright.com\/basement\/wp-content\/uploads\/noodles1-300x300.jpg 300w, http:\/\/www.rubright.com\/basement\/wp-content\/uploads\/noodles1-150x150.jpg 150w, http:\/\/www.rubright.com\/basement\/wp-content\/uploads\/noodles1-768x768.jpg 768w, http:\/\/www.rubright.com\/basement\/wp-content\/uploads\/noodles1.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The elusive noodles.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2>The Verdict<\/h2>\n<p>First off, let me say that these are fine noodles. They have a good texture, and the sauce is not too sweet. I tried to make the recipe as faithfully as possible, and was able to find the ingredients at my beloved neighborhood <a href=\"https:\/\/www.globalfoodstl.com\/\">Global Foods Market<\/a>.\u00a0 I like the thin sauce better than the thick sauce, but it&#8217;s a very serviceable recipe. The garlic-ginger tea is easy to make and works well. The thick sauce wasn&#8217;t enough to cover all of the noodles, so I&#8217;ll make more next time. I used a pound of noodles, as the amount wasn&#8217;t specified. <br \/><br \/>Are they the real deal ESG noodles from my youth? The sad fact is that it&#8217;s painfully subjective; it&#8217;s getting harder and harder to remember tastes, sights, and smells from so long ago. This recipe is definitely one to add to your collection (and yes, I have a collection). Lately, I&#8217;ve been making a version that doesn&#8217;t even try to mimic Empire Szechuan Gourmet. It&#8217;s from Food &amp; Wine and is very different from ESG, as it uses lots of rice wine vinegar and peanut butter. It&#8217;s my wife&#8217;s favorite version, which is an important consideration! <a href=\"_wp_link_placeholder\" data-wplink-edit=\"true\">Here&#8217;s the link<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Another Update from the Empire Szechuan Noodle Quest [Click here for the previous, lengthy tome from 2020.] AI weighs In My occasional pen pal, Kevin, who is even more obsessed with recreating Empire Szechuan Gourmet noodles than I am, sent me a link to the newest version of the recipe (also shown below). He asked [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[31,61],"class_list":["post-2352","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-food","tag-cold-noodles","tag-cold-sesame-noodles"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Another Look at ESG Cold Noodles - Rubright.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/www.rubright.com\/basement\/another-look-at-esg-cold-noodles\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Another Look at ESG Cold Noodles - Rubright.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Another Update from the Empire Szechuan Noodle Quest [Click here for the previous, lengthy tome from 2020.] AI weighs In My occasional pen pal, Kevin, who is even more obsessed with recreating Empire Szechuan Gourmet noodles than I am, sent me a link to the newest version of the recipe (also shown below). 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