Szechuan peppercorn, chili, and peanut butter noodles with pickled cabbage with mint and cucumber

Sure! This came courtesy of a friend of mine

For the pickled cabbage /

3 cups finely shredded red cabbage

½ a cucumber, seeds scraped out, sliced thinly

a handful of fresh mint leaves, chopped

1/4 cup rice vinegar

1 tbsp toasted sesame oil

salt

1 tbsp sesame seeds

For the mouth-numbing chile oil/

2 tbsp Sichuan peppercorns

1/4 cup chile flakes

1/3 cup canola oil

4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1 tsp sugar

For the noodles/

1/4 cup crunchy peanut butter (I used creamy here)

1/4 cup toasted sesame oil

14 oz whole wheat noodles

To make the pickled cabbage, put the cabbage, cucumber, and mint into a bowl, add the vinegar, sesame oil, and a pinch of salt. and mix with your hands. Scatter with the sesame seeds and leave to one side.

In a blender or spice grinder, blitz the peppercorns and chile flakes to a rough powder. Heat the canola oil in a small saucepan over a medium flame, then add the garlic and let it sizzle for a minute or two, until it turns a pale gold. Stir in the sugar, ½ teaspoon of salt, and the ground peppercorn and chile mixture, and take off the heat.

For the noodles, mix the peanut butter and sesame oil in a bowl with 1/3 teaspoon of salt. Cook the noodles according to the package instructions, then drain, rinse under cold water, and drain again. Put the noodles into a bowl, and add the peanut mixture and 2 table- spoons of chile oil. Toss with your hands, making sure all the noodles are well coated, then season to taste.

To serve, lift the noodles on to a platter (or into four shallow bowls), top with the sharp crunchy cabbage, then add a drizzle of chile oil, depending on your threshold for mouth-numbing heat.