Once each quarter, I go to a meeting that features a pot luck.
Most of the time I'm in too much of a hurry to actually make something. This month I planned ahead and had everything on hand to make some Thai Peanut Noodles.
I decided what I wanted to make and then
went hunting for a recipe.
It was awesome. Everybody at the meeting said so, and I have a lengthy list of people who asked for the recipe.
For convenience, I served it cold, but it's awesome when it's hot.
Also, you can throw whatever else you want into it to make it more of a meal ... stir fry veggies for sure, and perhaps chicken or tofu.
SPICY THAI PEANUT NOODLE RECIPE
Ingredients:
- 6 Tbsp of Crunchy Peanut Butter (Note: I used Jif)
- 4 Tbsp of Water
- 3 Tbsp of Vegetable Oil
- 3 Tbsp of Sesame Oil
- 3 Tbsp of Rice Vinegar
- 3 Tbsp of Soy Sauce
- 4 Tbsp of Honey
- 1 Tbsp of Sugar (optional)
- 1 ½ Tbsp of Minced Ginger Root (Note: I cheated. I used 1 tsp of Powdered Ginger)
- 1 ½ Tbsp of Minced Garlic Cloves (Note: I cheated here too. I used 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder)
- 1 Tbsp of Crushed Red Peppers (Note: I used a bit less than one Tablespoon. As noted below, the recipe originally called for 1-1/2 Tablespoon. With the amount of crushed peppers that I used it was pleasantly hot, with even the hot-wimps liking it without too much complaining.)
- 1 16oz Package of Spaghetti or Linguine
In a large saucepan, bring 8-10 cups of water to a boil and cook the pasta as directed on the box (usually 8-10 minutes).
While the spaghetti is cooking, place another saucepan on low heat and mix together the peanut butter and water. Once the peanut butter warms up it will mix nicely with the water and you should end up with a soupy peanut butter mixture in the saucepan.
One by one, add the vegetable oil, sesame oil, rice vinegar, soy sauce, and honey thoroughly stirring the sauce after each ingredient is added. If the sauce begins to bubble, turn the heat down a little bit. By now you should have a few minutes left before the pasta is done.
Peel the garlic and ginger root and chop them up with a food processor. If you don’t have a food processor, you can finely chop the garlic and ginger with a knife (it is tedious work, but these ingredients are essential). Once the garlic and ginger root are chopped up, stir them into the saucepan along with the optional 1 Tbsp of sugar.
Drain the pasta, and then place it back in the large saucepan until you are done preparing the sauce.
Add the crushed red pepper to the sauce. The original recipe called for 1 ½ Tbsp but you may find this too spicy. I would start with a little less than 1 Tbsp of crushed red peppers and gradually increase to your taste. Simmer the sauce for two minutes to allow all of the ingredients to blend together. Keep in mind that more “spicy heat” from the crushed red peppers will be released as it simmers in the saucepan. If you feel that the peanut sauce needs a little more “kick” add more crushed red peppers after the initial 2 minute simmer.
Once the delicious peanut sauce has simmered and you have adjusted the “spiciness” to your taste, simply mix the sauce in with the cooked pasta and serve!