Crispy Tofu with Chili Sesame Noodles

Cooking noodles directly in the sauce is the move that makes home noodle dishes taste restaurant-level. Instead of boiling noodles in water, draining, and tossing in a separate sauce, you cook the noodles in the sauce itself. The starch released as they cook binds with the fat and liquid and forms a glossy, clingy finish that you can't achieve by combining pre-cooked noodles with a cold sauce.

The sauce here is a chili sesame base built on tahini, not peanut butter. Tahini adds body and a roasted sesame depth that matches the sesame oil finishing layer. Soy for salt. Chili crisp for heat. Rice vinegar for acid. Sugar for balance. Fresh garlic microplaned so it disappears into the sauce. Lemon juice, unusual for a noodle sauce, adds a brighter acid note that layers over the vinegar.

Everything starts in the pan together with water. Bring it to a simmer. The tahini will emulsify into the liquid, the chili crisp will bloom slightly, and the sauce will look smooth and unified. Rice noodles go in next. As they cook, the starch thickens everything into a dark, glossy finish. Add water gradually as needed so the sauce reduces rather than thinning out.

Tofu stays completely separate until plating. Press the tofu for 30 minutes, toss in cornstarch and optional EverCrisp, and shallow-fry in 1/2 inch of oil until crispy and golden on every side. Drain on a rack.

The plating rule: saucy noodles in the bowl first, crispy tofu piled on top. Mixing the tofu into the noodles softens the crust within a minute, which wastes all the effort you just put into it. On top, the tofu stays shattering-crisp through at least one full meal. Scallions, more sesame seeds, done.