MONDAY MORNING RECIPE POST - PEANUT AND CHILI NOODLES

Today's recipe came from a YouTube Video hosted by Yeung Man Cooking which you can find at this link.

3 tablespoons peanuts

1 tablespoon white sesame seeds

3 garlic cloves

2 green onions

250g udon noodles (8.8 oz. or thereabouts)

1 tablespoon chili oil

1 teaspoon sweet paprika

1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon dark soy sauce

1 teaspoon rice vinegar

1 tablespoon maple syrup

2 tablespoons peanut butter

2 tablespoons water

Start boiling the water for your noodles.  

We used the following which we purchased at our supermarket in the Asian refrigerator section.  It was double what was called for, but we enjoy leftovers for the next day and double ingredients accordingly.  You might not want to do this and that's why I have not doubled up on the ingredients above.

Using a non-stick pan on medium heat, put in the peanuts and the white sesame seeds.  Toast for about a minute while slowly stirring. 

When nicely browned but being careful not to burn, transfer peanuts and sesame seeds into a mortar and pestle and crush coarsely, being careful not to overly crush so that they will retain some texture (we don't have one of these so chopped the peanuts up into smaller pieces).  Set aside for a garnish.

Put the garlic cloves through a garlic press if you have one, or finely grate or chop fine.

Thinly slice the green onions.  

With the water boiling, carefully add the Udon noodles and cook to package directions.  Carefully drain into a colander when cooked.  Our noodles were fresh and already cooked.  They didn't take long, not more than a couple of minutes.  

(This recipe works with any type of noodles.  You can use regular spaghetti or angel hair pasta, or any other favorite.  You can also use cooked rice instead of the noodle.)

Put the pan on medium-low and heat the tablespoon of chili oil. Add prepared garlic, stir and sauté for about 45 seconds, until it is golden but not burnt.  Add the sweet paprika, toasted sesame oil, the tablespoon soy sauce, dark soy sauce, rice vinegar, maple syrup, peanut butter, and water. Mix until well combined.  

Turn the heat up to medium.  To the sauce add the cooked and drained Udon noodles, along with the green onion/sesame seeds mixture, and mix until well coated with the sauce.  Cook this for two minutes.  

It's now reading to serve up.  

We prepared extra chopped peanuts and white sesames noodle mixture for a garnish at the table.  

It was an excellent dish and very tasty.  I would like to try the sauce with angel hair pasta, which is our go-to favorite when we make a spaghetti sauce.  The suggestion of substituting steamed rice for the noodles was a good one, as was adding other veggies.  I definitely recommend watching the video for anything I may have missed.

Our noodles didn't turn out quite as golden as his.  With us using additional noodles for our leftovers tomorrow, I think we would have to add even more sauce ingredients, but it depends entirely on your taste. 

We also added Siracha over the top of the garnish, for extra heat.  My dear other half added more soy sauce to his.

You can copy and paste the address below if you prefer.

https://youtu.be/1uOLXNgZYqg?si=aEoVTVjNlv8S0wCI