There is a Chinese-influenced restaurant somewhere in London with brightly painted walls and sesame noodles that people travel for. The chef who first made these was craving them one afternoon when the restaurant was closed for a holiday. So she made her own version — cold noodles, tahini, peanut butter, soy, garlic, chilli crisp. The restaurant’s noodles use Chinese sesame paste. This version uses what most people actually have at home, and works beautifully.
The thing that pulls the whole bowl together is the sesame oil. Wilson’s Foods Toasted Sesame Oil goes into the sauce at the end — not into a hot pan, not reduced, just whisked through with the tahini and peanut butter until you have something glossy and fragrant and deeply savoury. Two teaspoons. That’s all it takes to make the whole bowl taste finished.
Ten minutes. One bowl. The recipe is below — and once you’ve made it once, you’ll stop thinking of it as a recipe and start thinking of it as a Tuesday.
Sesame and Chilli Noodles
Ingredients
Method
- Cook the noodles in boiling salted water for one minute less than the packet instructions — you want them al dente. Drain and rinse immediately under cold running water until completely cold. Shake off the excess water and set aside.
- While the noodles cook, make the sauce. Whisk together the peanut butter, tahini, soy sauce and chopped garlic in a bowl. Add the Wilson's Foods Toasted Sesame Oil and whisk again. Add cold water a little at a time — start with 75ml and go up to 125ml depending on the thickness of your tahini — whisking until you have a smooth, pourable sauce.
- Toss the cold noodles through the sauce until every strand is coated. Divide between two bowls.
- Top each bowl with 1–2 tablespoons of chilli oil or chilli crisp — start with one and add more at the table if you want more heat. Scatter over the spring onions and finish with the toasted sesame seeds.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
We Use Wilson’s Foods Toasted Sesame Oil
Wilson’s Foods Toasted Sesame Oil is a finishing oil — it goes in at the end, not at the start. The toasting process gives it a deep, nutty, slightly smoky flavour that heat destroys, which is why it belongs in the sauce and not in a hot pan. Two teaspoons in the tahini and peanut butter mix transforms the sauce from something good into something that tastes genuinely considered.
It also has a low smoke point compared to cooking oils — around 170°C — which confirms what the flavour already tells you. This is not a frying oil. It’s a seasoning. Use it the way you’d use a good soy sauce or fish sauce — sparingly, at the end, where it can do the most work without losing anything.
We often reach for it in dressings, marinades, dipping sauces and anywhere a dish needs that toasted nutty depth at the finish.
A Few Tips
Cook the noodles a minute short — they carry on softening even after draining, and cold noodles with a little bite are considerably better than cold noodles that have gone soft and heavy.
Rinse under cold water until completely cold — this stops the cooking immediately and prevents the noodles from clumping in the bowl. Don’t rush this step. Run cold water over them for a full minute.
The sauce thickness depends on your tahini — some tahini is very thick and needs more water, some is already quite runny. Add the water gradually and stop when the sauce coats the back of a spoon and pours easily. Somewhere between 75ml and 125ml is usually right.
Start with less chilli crisp than you think — add one tablespoon to the bowl, taste, then add more. You can always put more on the table. The heat builds as you eat.
Make the sauce ahead — it keeps in the fridge for three days in a sealed jar. When you’re ready to use it, loosen it with a small splash of cold water and whisk again. Having the sauce ready means this is genuinely a ten-minute meal on any night of the week.
How We Serve It
Straight into bowls while the noodles are still cold from the rinse. The sauce goes on first, then the noodles get tossed through until every strand is coated and glossy. Then the chilli crisp — spooned over rather than mixed in, so there are concentrated pockets of heat rather than uniform warmth throughout. Spring onions over the top, sesame seeds over that.
A small dish of extra chilli crisp on the table is worth doing. People always want more than they started with, and it saves the round of getting up to fetch it.
This is a complete meal in a bowl as it stands. If you want to make it more substantial, add a soft-boiled egg halved over the top, or a handful of edamame beans tossed through with the noodles. For a crowd, double the recipe and put everything in the centre of the table — noodles, sauce, toppings — and let people build their own bowl.
More Ways to Use Wilson’s Foods Toasted Sesame Oil
Wilson’s Foods Toasted Sesame Oil belongs wherever a dish needs a nutty, smoky finish. A few places to start:
Light and Zesty Sesame Oil Asian Salad — a drizzle of toasted sesame oil in the dressing brings everything together without needing many other ingredients. Get the recipe.
Stir-fry finishing oil — add half a teaspoon to any stir-fry right at the end, off the heat, just before serving. It takes the whole dish somewhere more complex.
Dipping sauce — a tablespoon of toasted sesame oil, two tablespoons of soy sauce, a teaspoon of rice vinegar and a little finely grated ginger. Shake in a jar. Use it with dumplings, spring rolls or anything deep-fried.
Marinades — sesame oil in a marinade adds a toasted background note that works well with soy, garlic and ginger on chicken thighs or beef strips before they go on the braai or into a pan.
Over rice or roasted vegetables — a small drizzle of toasted sesame oil over plain steamed rice or roasted sweet potato just before serving. It costs almost nothing in effort and changes the dish entirely.
The Good Stuff
Toasted sesame oil is made from roasted sesame seeds, which is where the deep nutty flavour comes from. Wilson’s Foods Toasted Sesame Oil contains no artificial flavourants — the taste is entirely from the seeds themselves. It’s vegan, dairy-free, and gluten-free, which makes it one of the more versatile finishing oils in a kitchen that cooks across different dietary needs.
The smoke point of toasted sesame oil is around 170°C — low enough that it should not be used as a primary cooking oil for high-heat applications. Use it as a seasoning or finishing oil rather than a frying oil. Store it in a cool, dark place; sesame oil can go rancid more quickly than other oils when exposed to heat and light. Some people keep it in the fridge — this is fine and extends the shelf life without affecting the flavour.
Ways to Change It Up
Swap the noodles — rice noodles, soba noodles or ramen noodles all work with this sauce. Soba gives you a slightly nuttier result; rice noodles make it gluten-free if you also use tamari.
Add protein — a soft-boiled egg halved over the top, shredded rotisserie chicken stirred through the noodles, or pan-fried tofu cubes tossed in soy and sesame before going on top. Any of these turns it into a more substantial meal.
Add vegetables — blanched broccoli florets, shredded cucumber, edamame beans or finely sliced red cabbage all work well tossed through the noodles alongside the sauce.
Make it spicier — add a teaspoon of gochujang or a small amount of fresh chilli to the sauce before whisking. The heat goes in underneath everything rather than just on the surface.
Serve it warm instead of cold — rinse the noodles briefly in warm rather than cold water after cooking and serve immediately. The sauce loosens slightly in the warmth and coats the noodles differently — both versions are worth trying.
Make it nut-free — replace the peanut butter and tahini with sunflower seed butter. The flavour is slightly different but the sauce still works, and it’s suitable for anyone with a nut allergy.
Questions You Might Have
Can I cook with toasted sesame oil?
Not at high heat. The smoke point is around 170°C and the toasted flavour that makes it useful disappears quickly when heated. Use it as a finishing oil — add it at the end of cooking or into a cold sauce — rather than using it to fry or sear.
My sauce is too thick — how do I fix it?
Add cold water a tablespoon at a time and whisk until the sauce reaches the consistency you want. The thickness varies significantly depending on the brand of tahini — some are very stiff and need considerably more water than others.
Can I make this dish ahead of time?
The sauce keeps in the fridge for up to three days — loosen it with cold water before using. The dressed noodles are best eaten within a couple of hours; once tossed in sauce they absorb it and can become dry if left too long. Cook the noodles fresh and dress them just before serving.
Is this dish vegan?
Yes, if you use tamari instead of regular soy sauce and check the label on your chilli crisp — some contain dried shrimp or other non-vegan ingredients. Everything else in the recipe is plant-based.
What’s the difference between toasted and plain sesame oil?
Plain sesame oil is pressed from raw sesame seeds and has a much milder, more neutral flavour. Toasted sesame oil is pressed from roasted seeds and has the deep, nutty, slightly smoky character that makes it useful as a finishing oil. They are not interchangeable in this recipe — you need the toasted version.
How should I store toasted sesame oil?
In a cool, dark place away from heat and light. Some people keep it in the fridge, which is fine and extends the shelf life. Use it within the best-before date on the bottle — sesame oil can go rancid more quickly than other oils.
Where can I buy Wilson’s Foods Toasted Sesame Oil?
Wilson’s Foods Toasted Sesame Oil is available online at oliveoil.co.za and at leading retailers across South Africa.
Ten Minutes. One Bowl. Make It Tonight.
Wilson’s Foods Toasted Sesame Oil is available online and at leading retailers across South Africa.
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