Spicy Dan Dan Noodles

Place a large pot of salted water on to boil. Place a small skillet over medium heat and add the walnuts. Cook, tossing occasionally, until lightly toasted, about 3 to 5 minutes.

Thinly slice scallions, keeping the greens and whites separate. Peel and roughly chop the ginger. Trim and roughly chop the jalapeño. Trim about 1 inch from the root ends of the flat-leaf spinach. Cut the cucumber into matchsticks.

Once the water is boiling, add the red rice noodles, stir and turn off the heat. Cook the noodles, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 6 to 8 minutes. Reserve ¼ cup of the cooking liquid, drain the noodles and rinse them with cool water to stop the cooking process.

To a food processor, add the toasted walnuts, ginger, as much of the jalapeño as you’d like, and the garlic. Pulse to combine. Add the tamari, rice vinegar, turbinado sugar, sesame oil, and 2 tbsp water, and blend until mostly smooth. Season generously with salt.

Return the large pot to medium-high with 2 tbsp vegetable oil. Add as much or as little of the Szechuan peppercorns as you’d like and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the scallion whites and walnut sauce and cook for about 1 minute. Stir in the spinach, reserved cooking liquid, and rice noodles. Reduce heat to medium and cook, tossing frequently, until noodles are hot and well coated, about 3 to 5 minutes.

Halve the lime. Add the juice from half the lime to the noodles, taste, and season with salt. Cut the remaining lime half into wedges. Gently toss and divide the Dan Dan noodles between large bowls. Sprinkle with the scallion greens and cucumber matchsticks. Serve with lime wedges.