Last week I made the Spicy Shirataki and Cucumber Salad recipe from J. Kenji Lopez-Alt’s The Wok cookbook.

The namesake noodle, shirataki, is unique in that it is made of an indigestible yam starch. Kenji introduces the recipe saying that because of this character, they can be found in Western groceries, and, sure enough, we found them at Publix labeled “Pasta Zero Spaghetti Shaped Shirataki” in the same section as the tofu.

Otherwise the dish uses a now-familiar combination Sichuan chile oil, sesame paste, soy sauce, and Chinkiang vinegar alongside sugar and garlic for the dressing. Cucumber, scallions, sesame seeds, and peanuts are the remaining ingredients.

The dish is easy to make. The noodles come cooked, only needing to be rinsed and drained. The sauce ingredients are combined in a bowl and then tossed with all the ingredients except the peanuts, which are garnished on top.

We thought it was fine. Megan continues to not care for cold noodles. Regarding the shirataki noodles, Megan wondered why we weren’t using the gluten-free minimal-calorie option for all of our noodle needs. They taste a lot like rice noodles, but with a distinctive resistance when chewing. In the salad it wasn’t noticeable.

Not sure I’ll make this again, given that the family wasn’t wild about it.

I am cooking my way through J. Kenji Lopez-Alt’s The Wok cookbook. Read more about it.