Susan Jung’s recipes for dishes that require zero cooking

These dishes are great for when it’s hot outside, because they require absolutely no cooking. Both dishes are quite light – perfect for summer eating.

Mung bean noodles with vegetables, pressed bean curd and spicy sesame dressing
This isn’t a difficult dish to make, but it’s important for visual appeal that the vegetables are sliced to about the same size. Apart from the mung bean noodles and sesame dressing, there are no rules for the other ingredients to use, although you should always have a good mix of colours. I used carrot, cucumber, yellow bell pepper, white radish and pressed bean curd, but you can also add (or substitute) egg (make it into a thin omelette, then cut it into fine strands), red bell pepper (but don’t use green because the flavour is too grassy), spinach (blanch it then squeeze out as much water as possible before roughly chopping it) and lightly blanched bean sprouts.

Mung bean noodle sheets are brittle and too large to fit into most bowls. But don’t break them up so they fit: just pour boiling water over them and, with a little time, they’ll be soft and pliable. You can then press them into the bowl so they’re fully submerged. The noodles need only to be soaked; there’s no need to cook them.

200 grams mung bean noodle sheets (called fen pei or fun pei)
1 yellow bell pepper, about 150 grams
120 grams white radish (loh bok)
120 grams carrot, peeled
1-2 cucumbers (use the slender Japanese or Chinese cucumbers)
2 pieces pressed bean curd
1-2 spring onions
Toasted sesame seeds

For the spicy sesame dressing:
60 grams Chinese sesame paste
1 large garlic clove, minced
10ml soy sauce
5ml light soy sauce
10ml rice wine vinegar
5ml sesame oil
A few drops of chilli oil, or to taste
About 25ml hot water