What do you make for dinner when your A/C goes out and the repair man is still in your house at 7:00 at night? Asian cold noodles. There are many recipes out there but I improvised and used only what I had on hand and I think the sauce turned out great. It takes just the time to cook the noodles to prepare and the noodles were light and packed with different flavors, sweet, sour, and spice all to our particular taste. A perfect meal for my husband and me Friday night and if our air conditioning is still not fixed tonight, Monday, then we will be having this again. Due to the simplicity this dish will be a staple in my fridge for the rest of the summer.
I had some diced chicken already cooked that I added to this. Personally, I liked it better without the meat but I think next time I will stop on the way home and pick up a rotisserie chicken instead. Here are the ingredients I used and in parentheses are what traditional sesame noodle dishes call for.
Ingredients:
Soba noodles or spaghetti noodles
1/4 cup of Light Soy Sauce
2 tbls of Natural Smuckers creamy peanut butter, heated in microwave to soften and make stirring easier. (Tahini paste)
1/4 cup of Seasoned Rice vinegar. I only had about 1.5 tbls left so I used Apple Cider Vinegar too
(1/4 cup of Mirin is also used but I didn't have any and I didn't miss it)
1/8 cup of sugar
3 tbls of sesame oil
1 tsp of Thai garlic chili paste (crushed red pepper, hot sauce)
1 tsp of garlic powder (4 cloves crushed garlic)
1 tsp of ginger (an inch of fresh ginger peeled and grated)
When served:
2-3 tbls of toasted sesame seeds
3-4 green onions, sliced thin with about 3 inches of the dark green
optional: chicken, shrimp, tofu, thinly sliced steak
Cook the noodles al dente in salted water. Be sure not to cook all the way because they will soak up more if the liquid in the fridge. Rinse with cold water to stop the cooking.
Add all the sauce ingredients together in a bowl that you can whisk them vigorously in. You could use a food processor or blender but I chose to exercise my biceps. Blend until smooth and taste frequently to adjust flavoring to your taste.
In a toaster oven cook sesame seeds for about 4 minutes on 300, or until slightly browned.
Pour sauce over noodles and either garnish and eat right away or put in the refrigerator for a couple of hours and let the flavors combine and saturate the noodles. Your choice. I will make this every week and just keep some in the fridge for a quick meal either as a main dish or a side. A lighter alternative to pasta salad.
I had some diced chicken already cooked that I added to this. Personally, I liked it better without the meat but I think next time I will stop on the way home and pick up a rotisserie chicken instead. Here are the ingredients I used and in parentheses are what traditional sesame noodle dishes call for.
Ingredients:
Soba noodles or spaghetti noodles
1/4 cup of Light Soy Sauce
2 tbls of Natural Smuckers creamy peanut butter, heated in microwave to soften and make stirring easier. (Tahini paste)
1/4 cup of Seasoned Rice vinegar. I only had about 1.5 tbls left so I used Apple Cider Vinegar too
(1/4 cup of Mirin is also used but I didn't have any and I didn't miss it)
1/8 cup of sugar
3 tbls of sesame oil
1 tsp of Thai garlic chili paste (crushed red pepper, hot sauce)
1 tsp of garlic powder (4 cloves crushed garlic)
1 tsp of ginger (an inch of fresh ginger peeled and grated)
When served:
2-3 tbls of toasted sesame seeds
3-4 green onions, sliced thin with about 3 inches of the dark green
optional: chicken, shrimp, tofu, thinly sliced steak
Cook the noodles al dente in salted water. Be sure not to cook all the way because they will soak up more if the liquid in the fridge. Rinse with cold water to stop the cooking.
Add all the sauce ingredients together in a bowl that you can whisk them vigorously in. You could use a food processor or blender but I chose to exercise my biceps. Blend until smooth and taste frequently to adjust flavoring to your taste.
In a toaster oven cook sesame seeds for about 4 minutes on 300, or until slightly browned.
Pour sauce over noodles and either garnish and eat right away or put in the refrigerator for a couple of hours and let the flavors combine and saturate the noodles. Your choice. I will make this every week and just keep some in the fridge for a quick meal either as a main dish or a side. A lighter alternative to pasta salad.
