Black bean sauce noodles

Finely chop the garlic, onion, ginger and green onion; dice the zucchini, the king oyster mushroom and the tofu; finely chop the Napa cabbage.

Slice a quarter of a cucumber into thin matchsticks and set aside.

Bring a pot of water to a boil for the noodles.

Heat one tablespoon of chili oil in a non-stick pan over medium heat and saute the onions, garlic and ginger a few minutes.

Add the tofu and saute another couple of minutes.

Make a well in the middle of the pan, add another tablespoon of chili oil and two generous tablespoons of black bean paste and cook the paste out two to three minutes.

Add the zucchini and mushrooms and saute a few minutes.

Add the Napa cabbage, the soy sauce and the dark soy sauce.

Boil the udon noodles for half the package time, two minutes here, stirring to keep them from sticking.

Transfer a quarter cup of the noodle cooking water to the sauce.

Strain the noodles, add them to the sauce and saute another couple of minutes until the sauce is thick and glossy.

Add the green onions off the heat and stir.

Plate, sprinkle with sesame seeds and top with the fresh cucumber.