this thing's incredible

I Use This Cheap Sesame Grinder Everyday to Perk Up My Soba Noodles and Ice Cream

Photo: Bre Graham

My sesame-seed obsession began when I was growing up in Singapore. At Chinese New Year, I ate huge handfuls of ‘smiling’ sesame cookies. The only lunch I wanted to eat in the school canteen was dark sticky chilli and sesame chicken. But out of all these meals, it was a bowl of soba noodles from a Japanese restaurant on my 8th birthday that got me hooked. The noodles were served with a cold sauce (called gomadare) that I had to make myself by grinding up toasted white sesame seeds in a traditional bowl (called a suribachi). The bowl was gorgeous, glazed on the outside, with rough grooves on the ceramic inside to crush the seeds with. And next to it on the table, to add an extra topping of sesame, sat a bright and cheerful Slicky-N sesame-seed grinder.

When I moved to London as a student, I tried to re-create the meals I missed from Singapore. Homesick, I baked the sesame cookies, stir-fried chicken, and attempted my mum’s most complicated of recipes. But when I made the soba noodles, they didn’t taste the same. Despite the gomadare, they lacked a crunch. Mid-slurp, I had a realisation and searched for ‘red sesame grinder’ on Google. Up came Slicky-N for £6.50: No-one has ever clicked the order button so fast.

Five years on, it’s still going strong. Even though it looks like a kid’s plastic toy, it’s sturdy. Many reviewers say they’ve owned it for years and years. I fill mine with white sesame seeds from my local Turkish grocer. For optimum flavour (and so they’re easy to grind), you have to toast the seeds in a skillet with no oil and then let them completely cool before filling up the grinder. I refill my Slicky-N almost weekly, as my sesame obsession extends to almost everything I eat: I add a dusting of ground toasted sesame seeds to blanched broccoli, eggs, or even ice cream for a pinch of savoury saltiness.

Some other Strategist-approved kitchen accessories

Luukmonde Citrus Juicer
£27

Social Pantry founder, Alex Head, has been experimenting with fruit and veg during her time at home. “This week, I treated myself and bought this simple juicer,” she says. “Now that I have a little more time in the mornings, I wanted to embrace a slower start to the day. Squeezing a couple of oranges for juice lets me do that.”

Ioannis Grammenos, executive chef at Heliot Steak House, told us that he uses these knives from German manufacturer Wusthof when he wants to prep a filet mignon without the washing-up — and the worry of cutting himself when doing so. “I use the straight blade for slicing filets,” he says. “It’s very nice and cheap, and it’ll go very easily through your dishwasher.” Wash it on the lowest level, in the basket, not grouped with other cutlery, and Grammenos says you won’t notice a difference in sharpness next time you use it. “Water won’t damage it, because the blades are made to be resistant,” he explains.

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I Use a £7 Sesame Grinder to Perk Up Noodles and Ice Cream