Sichuan Sesame Noodles in “Strange Flavor” Sauce (Guaiweimian, 怪味面)
Published Nov 03, 2019, Updated Feb 26, 2024
Sesame Paste—Not Tahini or Peanut Butter—For the Win
“Strange flavor” truly is the strangest name for the super Sichuan sauce on these guaiweimian noodles. If I were naming it, it would be glorious flavor, or addictive flavor, or just best flavor, because it takes the standard sauce for Sichuan cold dishes—chili oil, Sichuan pepper, soy sauce, vinegar and garlic—and adds nutty, toasty Chinese sesame paste, hitting every note in the Sichuan flavor spectrum in one life-changing pantry sauce that can be thrown together in minutes.
Despite what McDonald’s would have us believe, there is no such thing as Szechuan Sauce. In fact there are dozens if not hundreds of Sichuan sauces. But strange-flavor sauce is one of our favorites. In fact, this sauce, which can be used on hot or cold noodles or on shredded chicken or even as a sauce for vegetables, is one of the things that prompted us to import a new Mala Market product.
Though sesame paste is a prominent player in this and many other Sichuan noodle dishes—from world-famous dandan noodles to the Chengdu cult-classic sweet water noodles to Chongqing’s xiaomian and so on—there’s just not a great version of it on the U.S. market, and especially not one that can be easily found, even in Asian supermarkets. To make matters more difficult, there’s no real substitute, as Middle Eastern tahini, while also a paste of ground sesame seeds, is made differently, from a different variety of sesame seed, and tastes different, and Chinese chefs agree that it isn’t right for Chinese food.
(You could substitute peanut butter, as many Western recipes do, but there’s a reason they’re called sesame noodles, and that’s because they’re made with sesame paste! It has an entirely different taste. Though if you must, the combo of Chinese sesame paste and American peanut butter is pretty great.)
So seeing this hole in our own kitchen and suspecting you have it in yours, we’ve been searching for a sesame paste to import from Sichuan for quite some time. We finally had to give up on a Sichuan-made paste, as we couldn’t find a company that both specialized in sesame products (versus just making it on the side) and had an export license (which are few and far between for Chinese food, believe it or not). However, we did find such a company in Shandong province, and not only that, but this company also produces sesame paste that is USDA-certified organic. This is almost unheard of in a Chinese product, so we jumped on it. Sesame paste is beloved across a large swath of China, so Shandong was fine by us.
And there was another reason to jump up and down about this sesame paste. While any company or home cook can make sesame paste by putting the sesame seeds in a food processor and chopping them to bits, only those serious about sesame make it the traditional way by grinding it in a circular motion between two large stones to attain the ideal texture and traditional taste. It results in a luxuriously creamy, pourable paste.
The Secret Ingredient for Sichuan Sesame Noodles
But enough about our Mala Market organic, stone-ground, pure sesame paste! It’s only one of the stars of strange flavor, albeit the most important one. This sauce for sesame noodles has two co-stars that do require a bit of prep if you don’t already have them in your pantry: homemade chili oil (or your favorite readymade one) and “concocted” soy sauce, as one of my written-in-Sichuan cookbooks translates it, or Sichuan-style aromatic sweet soy sauce.
One should always have chili oil on hand, but sweet soy sauce is also worth the trouble, as it goes in a few noodle dishes and in Zhong dumplings, the famous Sichuan dumplings in a sweetened red oil. When I first wanted to make this sauce years ago, I turned to Fuchsia Dunlop’s Land of Plenty as the only place in my large Sichuan cookbook collection that had a recipe for it, which she called sweet aromatic soy sauce. In the update of that classic cookbook, the just-released Food of Sichuan, it is one of the recipes she revised. She now starts with Chinese light soy sauce instead of dark soy sauce as her base, reducing it over heat with sugar and spices as before. I think this is definitely an improvement, so I have adopted and adapted it, with gratitude, once again, to Fuchsia.
Once you’ve got your three stars—sesame paste, chili oil and sweet soy sauce—you just need Baoning (or Zhenjiang) vinegar and Sichuan pepper oil or ground Sichuan pepper to round out and ramp up the flavors. Plus fresh garlic and Chinese alkaline wheat noodles. Anything beyond that is simply icing on the cake. This sauce is so good you don’t need much in the way of other ingredients or garnishes. It can be as simple as toasted sesame seed and sliced scallions. Julienned cucumber or radish is also wonderful, or blanched mung bean sprouts. Or, if you really want to make a meal of it, shredded chicken breast piled on top. Or skip the noodles entirely and pour the sauce over shredded chicken to make the popular cold dish strange flavor chicken.
We usually eat this noodle dish at room temperature as in Sichuan, but after seeing a photo on Instagram of sesame noodles served hot in Beijing, I thought why not? And oh my gosh, it works! Wheat noodles are starchy, and you still have to rinse them after you remove them from boiling water so you don’t gum up your sauce, but instead of rinsing them in cold water and making the bowl of noodles at your leisure, you rinse them in hot water and compose and eat the noodle bowl immediately. That shouldn’t be a problem, right?
Sichuan Sesame Noodles in “Strange Flavor” Sauce (Guaiweimian, 怪味面)
Ingredients
Sichuan Sweet Soy Sauce
- 1 cup Chinese light soy sauce
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- Assortment of Sichuan spices: 1 star anise, 1 inch cassia bark, 1 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns, 1 black cardamom or sand ginger, etc.
Sesame Noodles in Strange Flavor Sauce—Makes one large serving; multiply for more servings
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon Chinese sesame paste
- 2 tablespoons moderately hot chili oil with flakes/solids (less if your chili oil is super hot)
- 1½ tablespoons Sichuan sweet soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon Baoning (or Zhenjiang) vinegar
- ½ teaspoon Sichuan pepper oil (or ⅛ teaspoon ground Sichuan pepper)
- 100 grams Chinese alkaline wheat noodles (medium round is traditional)
- toasted sesame seeds
- green onion, thinly sliced
Instructions
Sweet Soy Sauce
- Combine all ingredients for the sweet soy sauce in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer on a low flame until sauce becomes syrupy, about 15 to 20 minutes. Cool to room temperature, then strain out spices and store sauce in an airtight jar or bottle. (Will keep indefinitely in the fridge.)
Sesame Noodles in Strange Flavor Sauce
- Set a large pot of water to boil. Combine minced garlic with 2 tablespoons water in a large measuring cup. Let it rest a few minutes (to tame the taste), then stir in the sesame paste. (If your sesame paste is not runny, you may add another tablespoon or two of water). Add chili oil, sweet soy sauce, vinegar and Sichuan pepper oil or powder and mix well. Taste sauce to see if it needs adjusting.
- When water comes to a boil, add your noodles and cook until just done. Drain noodles and rinse under warm running water to remove excess starch. Pile noodles in a serving bowl and pour sauce over the top or around the edge of the noodles. Garnish with scallions and toasted sesame seeds. Serve warm or at room temperature, and mix well before eating.
Notes
Tried this recipe?
Shop The Mala Market
Zhongba 360 Light Soy Sauce (Naturally Brewed 1 Year)Buy on Mala Market
Chinese Spice Collection (Star Anise, Cassia Bark, Sand Ginger, Smoked Cao Guo)Buy on Mala Market
Da Hong Pao Sichuan Pepper (Hua Jiao)Buy on Mala Market
Organic Stone-Ground Chinese Sesame Paste (Zhi Ma Jiang)Buy on Mala Market
Chengdu Crispy Chili Oil (All Natural, Made in Sichuan)Buy on Mala Market
Baoning Handcrafted Vinegar, Aged 3 Years (Sichuan Black Vinegar)Buy on Mala Market
Yaomazi Green Sichuan Pepper Oil (Rattan Pepper Oil, Teng Jiao You)Buy on Mala Market
Alkaline Wheat Noodles (Jianshui Wenzhou Mian for Dan Dan Mian, Xiao Mian)Buy on Mala Market
I have used the Wang Zhihe brand of sesame paste for a long time and never really thought much about it. I had noticed the paste was super thick and chalky but didn’t have any experience with anything else, so I thought that’s just how it was supposed to be. After trying this new paste I now realize what I have been missing. I can’t really notice much difference in flavor, but the sauces I use this in now are much smoother and not as thick and pasty as they always were before. The texture difference alone makes this a definite must purchase for me.
These noodles were great, and because I already had jars of aromatic soy sauce and chili oil in the fridge they only took about 10 minutes to whip up. I tried with both white noodles and I also tried a version with canton egg noodles that I fried until crispy and used this sauce as a dipping sauce. Both were fantastic.
Thank you, Andy, for this thoughtful review! I’m glad to hear that you feel the same way we do about switching from Wang Zhihe to our own brand. The texture—which is due to it being very fresh—really does make a big difference.
Also love your experiments with the noodles!Thanks for letting us know.
Thanks for all of your great efforts to make Sichuan cuisine more available to us. A question for you: In 2007 Sam Sifton wrote about the “Szechuan” Cold Sesame Noodle dish that was in vogue in New York in the 1970’s and 1980’s (https://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/01/magazine/01food.t.html). Although he did a fairly good job documenting the trajectory of those noodles in that city, he offered little solid information about the specific Sichuan origins for the dish that was developed in NY by a wave of immigrants from Sichuan Province. I’m wondering if you would venture out on a limb to to name Guai Wei Mian as the primary inspiration for the noodles that ultimately became so ubiquitous for a time in NY. Or, would you say that what evolved in NY was based on a variety of noodle dishes from Sichuan Province rather than any one particular preparation. I would be be interested to hear your thoughts on this. Thanks – Brandon
Hi Brandon. Thanks for your thought-provoking question. I’m not at all sure how that dish evolved. I took the liberty of using the guai wei sauce, which you commonly see on chicken, on noodles—-though it is similar to the sauce traditionally used on cold noodles topped with shredded chicken. And you also see a similar sauce on sweet-water noodles. I would guess that the chef tweaked flavors from Sichuan—-adding peanut butter and sugar—-in America to appeal to local tastes.
Hi! I made this recipe for a friend’s Hot Pot party. I tripled the recipe so there would be enough for ten people. However, I did not realize until I did the final assembly that I only needed a small amount of the sweet soy sauce. So my question is how long will the extra sweet soy keep in the refrigerator? Been using it for other dishes…it is great as a base for red cooked pork!! Let me add that this recipe is wonderful and was a big hit at the party.
Steven,
So glad this dish was a hit for you! And my apologies for the slow reply. The sweet soy should last many months in the fridge. At least I know I’ve kept some for many months. 😊 No reason for it to go bad. I think you have the right idea about using it in red-cooked dishes, and of course it’s good mixed with chili oil as a Zhong dumpling sauce. Thanks for your question!
Hello Taylor,
First, a big thank you for everything you do and for making the wonders of the Chinese kitchen accessible to a family in NYC. I cannot tell you how thrilling it has been since stumbling upon your recipe blog all those years ago and as your market and of course Fongchong, have grown.
I am currently in the process of assessing my pantry reserves and was curious to know from you how to assess the shelf life of some of your products. I know that many sauces and pickles will keep indefinitely in the fridge but was wondering if there were ‘use by’ dates for items that come in foil packets (yacai, zhacai) or those vacuum packed in plastic (peppers) or in jars (oils). Some items have dates, others do not.
The other question has to do with cold noodles in sesame sauce which I fell in love with over 40 years ago at a restaurant in NYC called Hwa Yuan and have been trying to recreate ever since. I’ve come close but the problem I’ve always run up against is that the noodles always absorb all the sauce so that the dish ends up being dry. Hwa Yuan’s noodles and the noodles at Grand Sichuan International another fabulous NYC Sichuan restaurant now sadly closed, always came served in a liquidly pool of heavenly sauce (which by the way was not at all oily – I think perhaps oil wasn’t used). Your Strange Flavor Sesame Noodle recipe nails the flavor I’ve been looking for and the right consistency judging from the recipe’s accompanying photo, but when I’ve tried to recreate them I don’t get ‘saucy’, I get ‘dry’. On various occasions I’ve tried adding a bit of water or tea or chicken stock which I know they used at Grand Sichuan (and which was the only recipe ingredient I was able to extract from the restaurant after decades of unsuccessful badgering) all of which only serve to dilute the sauce. So if you have any suggestions and can perhaps point me in a different direction that might be more successful, I’d be grateful.
Again, thanks for all you do.
Warm wishes to you and Fongchong,
Laurie
Laurie: We are so lucky and grateful to have longtime readers and customers like you!
Regarding the dates. I think all of our products (except spices and maybe sesame paste) have a best by or, alternatively, a production date on them somewhere, though they may be small/faint and hard to read. Unlike in America, China requires them on all packaged products. However, like America, these dates can be very arbitrary. As the FDA itself, as well as numerous other sources, advises, it’s best to just use your senses: If a product looks good, smells good and tastes good, then it is still good. This is particularly true of fermented sauces and dry goods. Also, I have kept some pickled chilies and green beans in the refrigerator for what is no doubt over a year and they are still just fine. The only thing I’d be careful about is the pickles in foil pouches. But if you take yacai out of its foil packet and store in an airtight jar in the fridge, it will last forever (seemingly).
Having said that, if you’re the type of American who throws out a hot sauce, ketchup or mustard when it reaches it expiration date, then you might want to do the same with Chinese products. If, like most of us, you eat them until they are gone, or at least while they still taste good, expiration dates be damned, then you can do the same with most Chinese products.
As for those noodles: The Grand Sichuan on Ninth Ave was my local takeout in the mid to late 90s! The first place I had real Sichuan food and real dan dan noodles. So I really wish I knew their secrets! My first thought would be to just use less noodles, but I’m sure you’ve tried that. If you have fewer noodles for that amount of sauce, do they still absorb all the sauce? I know many people will thin down sesame paste with water or stock, but I suppose that would dilute the taste. I do think it’s important to rinse the noodles very well before you sauce them, as Chinese noodles are quite starchy and can easily thicken a sauce. That’s all I can think of, but perhaps another reader will come along with more tips!