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- Toss chilled rice noodles in a glossy tomato-soy dressing enriched with Kewpie for a silky sheen.
- Fold in crisp bacon, juicy tomatoes, shaved green cabbage and scallions for crunchy, BLT-adjacent contrast.
- Finish with a splash of rice wine vinegar, extra Sriracha or sesame seeds; chill 20 to 30 minutes to let flavors meld.
- Ready quickly, about 15 minutes for noodles and bacon; serve cold, straight from the fridge for maximum refreshment.
Tomato and soy are one of those quietly brilliant flavor pairings that seem to pop up everywhere once you start looking for them. They’re the backbone of everything from Chinese tomato-and-egg stir-fries to noodle dishes whose sauces somehow taste deeper than the sum of their parts. The tomato brings sweetness and acidity; the soy contributes salt and savory depth.
Together, they practically hum.
I borrowed that idea for these BLT-inspired chilled noodles. Rice noodles are tossed in a glossy dressing of tomato paste, soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, Sriracha, rice wine vinegar and just enough Kewpie mayonnaise to give everything a silky sheen. Crisp bacon, juicy diced tomatoes and ribbons of shaved green cabbage get folded in at the end, where they stay cool, crunchy and unmistakably BLT-adjacent.
It’s the sort of lunch that lands somewhere between a noodle salad and your favorite summer sandwich. Smoky, savory and bright all at once, it’s especially good eaten straight from the fridge while standing in front of the open door, deciding whether you’re actually hungry enough for a second bowl.
BLT-inspired chilled noodles
Cook Time
15 minutes (for noodles and bacon)
Ingredients
For the dressing
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar, plus more to taste
- 1 tablespoon Kewpie mayonnaise
- 1–2 teaspoons Sriracha (or your favorite chili sauce)
- 1 teaspoon honey or brown sugar (optional, to balance the acidity)
- Freshly cracked black pepper
For the noodles
- 8 ounces rice noodles
- 8 slices thick-cut bacon, cooked until crisp and chopped
- 2 large ripe tomatoes, diced
- 2 cups very thinly shaved green cabbage
- 2 scallions, thinly sliced
- Kosher salt
- Extra rice wine vinegar, to finish
Optional toppings
- Toasted sesame seeds
- Extra Sriracha
- Cilantro or basil
- Thinly sliced cucumber
Directions
- Cook the noodles. Prepare the rice noodles according to the package directions. Drain and rinse thoroughly under cold water until completely chilled. Shake off as much water as possible and set aside.
- Make the dressing. In a large bowl, whisk together the tomato paste, soy sauce, sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, Kewpie and Sriracha until smooth. If it feels a little thick, whisk in a tablespoon or two of cold water until it reaches the consistency of a pourable dressing. Taste and add the honey if your tomatoes aren’t especially sweet.
- Dress the noodles. Add the chilled noodles to the bowl and toss until every strand is evenly coated in the tomato dressing.
- Add the BLT. Fold in the chopped bacon, diced tomatoes, cabbage and scallions. Season with a pinch of kosher salt (keeping in mind the bacon and soy are already salty) and several generous grinds of black pepper.
- Wake it up. Finish with another splash of rice wine vinegar and toss once more. That last hit of acid is what makes the tomatoes pop and keeps the whole bowl tasting bright instead of heavy.
- Chill or serve. You can eat it immediately, but it’s even better after 20 to 30 minutes in the refrigerator, when the noodles have a chance to absorb some of the dressing. Finish with sesame seeds, more Sriracha or fresh herbs, if you’d like.
This story originally appeared in The Bite, my weekly food newsletter for Salon. If you enjoyed it and would like more essays, recipes, technique explainers and interviews sent straight to your inbox, subscribe here.
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