Spicy Japanese Crab Noodle Salad - cooking recipe

Ingredients

Dressing:
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce, or more to taste
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons mirin (Japanese rice wine)
1 1/2 teaspoons sesame oil
1 teaspoon Chinese chili bean sauce (doubanjiang), or more to taste
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
salt to taste
Salad:
4 ounces instant ramen noodles (without flavor packet)
4 ounces cooked octopus, cut into bite-sized pieces (optional)
1/2 cucumber, thinly sliced
1/2 red bell pepper, sliced into rings
2 ounces cooked crab meat, broken up
2 ounces bean sprouts
2 scallions, sliced
1 tablespoon toasted nori (seaweed), crumbled, or more to taste

Preparation

Mix red wine vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, mirin, sesame oil, chili bean sauce, and balsamic vinegar in a small bowl to make dressing. Season with salt.
Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Cook instant noodles until tender, about 3 minutes. Drain and transfer to a large bowl.
Mix octopus, cucumber, red bell pepper, crab meat, bean sprouts, and scallions with noodles. Add dressing and mix to combine. Divide among serving plates and top with crumbled nori.