Spicy Peanut Noodles
Bright herbs and veggies on a pile of spicy noodles. Sign me up, bitches.
A century ago when I attended college, there was a little lunch place I would go to on Pacific Garden Mall in Santa Cruz. I remember almost nothing about the place except that it had maybe three tables in the whole establishment, it was cheap, and it had noodles.
Specifically, it had spicy peanut noodles.
I was in love with those noodles and that sauce. Over the years I have tried to reproduce it - to do justice to my memory of those noodles - but couldn’t quite get it right. Then, one fateful day, I added a little gochujang to the peanut sauce. More than simply spicy, this fermented Korean chile paste has umami and tanginess and funk, and brought my peanut sauce to a whole new level.
Is this peanut sauce as good as the sauce I remember? With all due respect to my memories, it is better. Perhaps it’s the availability of ethnic pantry staples these days, or perhaps my memory isn’t as good as I thought. But damn, this is some good sauce.
Be aware, this recipe makes a large quantity. Enough for extra. Enough that you can cover a pound of noodles and have some left over. You shouldn’t need to lick it out of the blender. Shouldn’t need to...
But um, I did. I got sauce on my eyebrows. True story.
Frankly, you could slather this peanut sauce on a flip flop and chew that shit with a smile on your face. That’s how good it is.
But I suggest you do not put it on a flip flop. Put it on noodles instead. Add some julienned fresh vegetables (cucumber is a must) and some chopped cilantro and green onion. Top with some chopped peanuts. Add some shredded chicken if the spirit moves you. More sauce on top - always more sauce.
You. Will. Not. Be. Sorry.
If you are a spice junkie like me, add a drizzle of chile oil over everything. You’ll cry with heat and joy.
I could go on, but frankly, you need to stop reading and go make some fucking spicy peanut noodles.
Go.
Chicken is delicious with these noodles, but entirely optional.
Shit You Need
For the sauce:
6 ounces peanut butter. Ideally, use a “natural”, no sugar added kind. I like Santa Cruz Organics dark-roasted peanut butter. And no, I am not paid to endorse products. Unfortunately.
3 ounces rice wine vinegar (feel free to substitute apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar - both are great in this)
2 ounces water
3 ounces soy sauce
1 ounce sweet soy sauce (if you don’t have this, add a Tbs or so of brown sugar - taste and adjust for sweetness at the end)
1 1/2 ounces gochujang (If you can’t get gochujang, you can use sambal olek or another chile paste. Just back off on the amount of sambal - it’s hotter than gochujang.)
1 ounce toasted sesame oil
1 inch fresh ginger, peeled, sliced, crushed, and coarsely chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped
For the rest:
One pound spaghetti or similar thin noodles, cooked according to the package directions, drained. My gluten-free friends, this is your chance to shine. ‘Cause rice noodles are awesome with peanut sauce!
English cucumber (those plastic-wrapped babies at the store), cut into 2-inch julienne
One small carrot (green-top type, small = tender) cut into 2-inch julienne
Red bell pepper, julienned
Cilantro leaves, chopped
Green portion of a few scallions, sliced thin on the diagonal
Roasted peanuts, crushed or chopped (go for the salted kind - they add such a great burst of salty crunch)
Shredded chicken, optional. A great use of leftover rotisserie chicken.
Keep Calm and justeffingcook
You notice how most of the ingredients are listed by weight? The great thing about recipes that call for a lot of ingredients to be added to one vessel is that you can stick your bowl/blender/etc on the scale, and start adding things. Just re-zero in between each addition, and there is no need to dirty a bunch of measuring cups and spoons.
Park your blender on your kitchen scale. Add all the sauce ingredients, zeroing after each, and blend until smooth. Taste and adjust.
Toss noodles with enough sauce to coat them.
Plate noodles, then top with carrots, red pepper, and cucumber. You could skip everything besides the cucumber -and cilantro - and be fine. Omit either and you are a monster.
Add a drizzle of sauce, chopped peanuts, green onion, and cilantro. Also optional: a drizzle of chile oil. Ooh yeah, baby.
