Cold Sesame Noodles

For this round of the recipe swap the theme was noodles. That leads to many, many possible recipes! I got this recipe for cold sesame noodles. I’ve had these before but it had been at least ten years ago so I was eager to make these. I decided to make these for dinner one night and serve them with bbq pork. It was a great dinner.

Years ago I worked in a store deli and my job was to make the salads. One of the salads we made was very similar to this recipe. When I made this I was thinking it would be like that recipe, but that recipe was more soy sauce-based and had a lot less peanut butter. I did go a little light on the peanut butter but that was still the prominent ingredient. I had all the ingredients on hand with the exception of the red chili sauce. I substituted some sweet chili sauce that really didn’t have any heat. It needs a little something so don’t skip that ingredient. (As a side note, I added a touch of the spicy mustard commonly served with bbq pork and that worked quite nicely!)

As always, I have a lot of fun with the recipe swaps and I get the opportunity to try some different things for my blog. Thanks to Sarah from A Taste of Home Cooking for this recipe. She’s the organizer of these swaps and I have such a good time participating. Thanks so much Sarah!

1-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
3 cloves garlic, smashed
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 cup creamy peanut butter
3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
1 teaspoon red chili sauce
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
6 tablespoons water

1 pound Chinese egg noodles or spaghetti

Salt
2 scallions, sliced thin
sesame seeds and cilantro, for garnish

In a blender or food processor, combine the ginger, garlic, brown sugar, peanut butter, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, chili sauce, sesame oil and water. Blend or process until smooth. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Cook the noodles in large pot of boiling salted water over medium heat until tender. Drain immediately and rinse with cold water until cool. Drain the noodles well and transfer to a wide bowl.

Pour the peanut sauce over the noodles and toss until well coated. Serve garnished with the scallions, sesame seeds, and cilantro.

Recipe from A Taste of Home Cooking