Momofuku’s Ginger Scallion Noodle Bowl + Giveaway!

My wedding dress and I are in a staring contest. See, my wedding is less than a month away and I have to fit. Seriously, if it means that I don’t exhale the entire evening, then that’s a sacrifice that must be made.

Just to bring you up to speed, I’m not wearing your average wedding dress. I’ve actually altered my grandmother’s dress that she wore in 1946. Here’s what it looked like then:

Dude, isn’t my grandmother a fox? Is it weird to think that about your grandmother? It is? Yeah, just ignore that then.

Here’s something you should know about me and my grandmother. We are not the same dress size. At all. Basically, she’s just over 5’ tall, and was skinny as a rail when she got married, whereas I am 5’10” and have hips. So yeah, although the dress was altered to fit me (and to look a little more modern), it’s a snug fit. By “snug” I mean that I need to lose a couple pounds if I hope to breath at any point during the day.

Thus begins my month of dieting. But knowing myself, there’s no way I’m going to stay on a diet if I’m only eating dull, boring food. Thank goodness for recipes like this scallion noodle bowl. The noodles are coated in a light but flavorful sauce of ginger and scallions, and then topped with super easy-to-make pickled cucumbers for some tang, and some crisp sautéed cauliflower. This might not sound super exciting, but my meat-lover fiancé loved this dish. Not that he needs to lose weight; I have to admit to you that he’s actually skinnier than me. That is totally lame.

To kick off my “fit into wedding dress” plan I was gifted a lovely bottle of rice wine vinegar from Nakano. I was surprised when it ended up being flavored with basil and oregano, but I’ve always loved rice wine vinegar because of it’s light and slightly sweet taste, and the added flavors are pretty tasty. Even cooler than that, as a gift our lovely readers, they want to give one of you some vinegar as well, PLUS a $25 American Express gift card (lucky!).

Here’s the deal: check out their website, and then leave a comment posting a link to your favorite recipe, or leave me a comment with your own suggestions for ways to use this stuff (I do have a whole bottle, after all). Please submit all comments by noon on Wednesday (Pacific time) and I’ll announce the winner shortly after that.

Update: Congrats to Janna M. for winning the giveaway!

“The Vegetable Pastry Purses are calling to me.
http://mizkan.com/Recipes/?action=view&recipeID=369258124447
Congratulations on your wedding! I love your blog and especially the way you word your captions on foodgawker and Tastespotting.”

Thanks everyone for the sweet comments; you guys are awesome!

Momofuku’s Ginger Scallion Noodle Bowl

Print this recipe!

Adapted from Momofuku Cookbook via Amateur Gourmet

To make the pickled cucumbers, you’re basically just adding salt and sugar, marinating, and then adjusting to taste. I gave you an approximate amount to what I used, but I would recommend adding a little of each and then adjusting as you go. I added more soy sauce and vinegar than what the recipe called for and have adjusted it here. Nakano sent me a basil & oregano flavored vinegar, which was surprising but actually tasted pretty good. I would experiment with plain vinegar or using a different flavor as well.

1 medium sized cucumber – approx 1 cup of sliced cucumber
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon sugar
2 ½ cups thinly sliced scallions
½ cup minced ginger
¼ cup grapeseed oil
2 teaspoons light soy sauce
1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ large head of cauliflower, cut into florets
1 lb noodles – ramen, soba, or lo mein

Thinly slice the cucumber. In a small bowl toss the cucumber with the salt and sugar. Allow to sit for a few minutes and then taste one of the slices. Adjust the salt and sugar as necessary.

In a bowl combine the scallions, ginger, grapeseed oil, soy sauce and rice wine vinegar. Allow to sit and marinate for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the olive oil on high in a skillet and add the cauliflower florets. Cook on high until they begin to turn crispy and brown. While those are cooking, bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook your noodles. Drain, and toss the hot noodles in the scallion sauce. Disperse into bowls and top with cauliflower and cucumbers.

Tagged as: Cauliflower, Cucumber, Ginger

{ 74 comments… read them below or add one }

sk September 13, 2010 at 4:27 am

Oh yum! That looks delicious. I actually have the Momofuku cookbook but I haven’t yet tried to cook from it– I think this will have to be the first!

I love using rice wine vinegar on stir-frys. I use it in combination with ume plum (or umeboshi) vinegar, and that’s all the seasoning you need! I just saute the stems of whatever greens I’m using first, along with mushrooms if I have them, and onion, and then add in the more delicate stuff like the leaves and maybe some sliced radishes, and finish with seasoning.