My niece is one of those crazy vegetarians. Not the total nutjob vegan type but your average every day vegetarian. I, on the other hand am one of those freakshow meat eaters. Meat, meat, meat. I. Eat. Meat.
I thought I ate a lot of it. I thought I was the meat eater of the century, capable of winning awards and making third world countries disease free with the juice of my antibiotic laced meat sweats. Turns out ... maybe I'm not as good at is as I thought.
For the past 2 years, for whatever reason, I've been taking a quick iPhone picture of my dinner and sending it to my niece before I settle down to put my incisors to good use. She Oooosss and Ahhhhsss over all of the vegetables, noodles and extra stuff while making barfing sounds at the sight of the meat. It's our thing. I make fun of her "lifestyle" as a vegetarian she makes fun of mine as a barbarian. Then we talk about what's going on in Homeland this season and whether or not we think her husband will make it a full month without injuring himself in some ridiculous way.
But the other day I scrolled through a few hundred of my dinner photos and realized ... I'm not the Majesty of Meat at all. I probably eat meat 3 out of 7 days a week which barely counts as a meat eater at all. I'd be laughed right out of caveman training.
Technically the recipe I'm going to show you today could be served with chicken but I kindda like it without. In fact, I way prefer it meatless.
It's Spicy Sesame Noodles. And it all comes down to the sauce.
I've been trying, searching for, experimenting with developing a spicy peanut type sauce for years now. I'd pretty much given up on it actually, then a month or so ago I thought I'd give it another shot.
I know there are a bunch of sesame noodle recipes out there that are really easy and pretty good, but I didn't want pretty good. I wanted great.
And low and behold it's not only vegetarian, it's VEGAN.
The important thing to this recipe, the only thing really, is the sauce. It's a spicy sesame/peanut sauce that will keep in the refrigerator for a few weeks. Probably longer actually but it's never lasted that long around these parts because it's so versatile. This sauce is GREAT on noodles, chicken, fried tofu, spring rolls, and it's especially good stirred into one of my favourite side dishes, sautéed kale with shredded carrots.
There are other sesame noodle sauce recipes with less ingredients, but that's why they taste a bit flat. This one has more depth of flavour making it taste more complex. In other words better.
The other great thing about this recipe is it's completely customizable. I've developed it for my tastes and so it has a balance of sweet, salty, acidic and heat. But if you don't like heat, then just don't add the chili pepper flakes. If you LOVE heat, then add more.
Ditto for the sugar, ginger, or anything else.
Spicy Sesame Noodles
Ingredients
- 3 Tablespoons sesame seeds toasted
- 2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
- ¼ cup peanut butter
- 2 Tablespoons rice vinegar
- 4 Tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 Tablespoon ginger fresh, grated
- 1 clove garlic
- ½ teaspoon hot sauce
- ¼ tsp. hot pepper flakes
- ½ cup hot water approximately
- 1 lb Chinese Noodles like Instant noodles for instance
- 4 green onions sliced thin
- 1 carrot grated or sliced in matchsticks
- 1 red bell pepper sliced very thin
Instructions
- To toast your sesame seeds just put them in a dry pan over medium low heat and toast until golden.
- Reserve 1 Tablespoon of the sesame seeds for garnish.
- Add the sesame seeds, soy sauce, peanut butter, rice vinegar, brown sugar, ginger, garlic, hot sauce, and pepper flakes to a blender or food processor. Blend until combined well.
- Add the water a tiny bit at a time until the sauce becomes runny like cream. Stop adding water once you're at the right consistency. You might not use all the water.
- Cook the noodles according to package directions. Instant noodles only take 1 minute to cook.
- Strain noodles and add the green onions, carrots and red peppers. Toss with the sauce then garnish with reserved sesame seeds.
Notes
Nutrition
Keep any leftover sauce in the fridge. It's great for chicken satays.
Unless of course you're a vegetarian. Or vegan. If that's the case then insert barfing sounds here.
Just like Neil. So good, so good, so good!
This is an AMAZING recipe. I think I commented some time ago that I basically drink it out of the jar I use to (try to) store it, it's just that good. I love it with everything. It's great with oven-baked vegetables!!
Too late for tonight, but nice to know my pantry is already stocked and at the ready for tomorrow!
I may add my toasted sesame oil as the aroma alone is divine.
Did you ever try the brownie recipe I posted? Simple but really hits the choc-spot.
Thanks for sharing your recipes!
I didn't see this the first time around so I am very happy that you reposted it. Sounds delish and since I am a Peanut Sauce lover (and I've tried MANY recipes) I will now have to try this. Thanks!
Karen...just made the sesame seed dish. It was soooooo good!!!!! We don't have any vegans....what we did have was two containers of cooked plain noodles ( macaroni noodles to be exact) sitting in the fridge untouched from pasta night two dinners ago. I did have to go to the grocery store for some ingredients but reflecting on your other recent post...I stuck to the list. You are such a good influence! I followed the recipe (so easy) and just reheated the noodles in boiling water. Everyone had two helpings! Thank you for helping get rid of the mundane boring noodles. The other two recipes are on this week's dinner menu as well. I have a sister Karen so to avoid confusion I refer to you as "my blogger", when telling my husband about your posts. My husband said after dinner tonight..."I like your blogger". Just wanted you to know you have a growing fan club here in Fort Erie Ontario.
Just tried this recipe. It is fabulous. Go Karen!
I made one change, though. As we are trying to eat less refined sugar, I used molasses instead of the brown sugar. (Yes, I know molasses has sugar in it. Note that "refined" was the operative word in my opening statement.)
It turned out great. I imagine it's a bit less sweet than your recipe, but I really liked the slight smokiness the molasses gave to the sauce. Just FYI.
I made this today and am loving it! First time making peanut sauce, and was apprehensive about the amount of brown sugar...without reason as it turns out. I followed the recipe exactly, just adding a bit more garlic and ginger, and it's sooo good. Used the 1 minute noodles too, great idea!
A hit with the 44 year old, the 10 year old, and the 7 year old. This one goes on repeat. If not high rotation!
High rotation?! That's quite a compliment. :) Glad you all liked it. ~ karen!
OMG Karen! I made this recipe for dinner tonight! So amazingly delicious! This will be my new go to recipe! Thank you! Thank you! :)
I made this for brunch the day after you posted, and have made it several times since, so good!!!
My sweetheart is (unexpectedly) home from work today so I will make him this for lunch adding some left over chicken and a bit of sesame oil to the sauce, I know he will request some protein and tofu won't cut it.
Selfish of me to have kept this little taste of heaven all to myself but I don't feel the least bit guilty :)
Thank you, thank you, thank you for this recipe and for sharing the awesomeness that is you!
Well thank YOU for the comment. :) ~ karen!
I've made this 3 times since you posted it and I think it's my favorite dish... well besides coffee chip ice cream.
It's so easy to make. LOVE IT!!!
Hi Karen
I'm an avid reader of your blog, first time commentator. I live on Long Island and we were slammed with eight inches today. My son, who lives in the city, happened to be snowed in with me and my HS daughter. I rummaged thru the frig trying to think of what to make for lunch when I remembered your Asian noodles. I made them along with homemade black bean burgers and what a lovely, spontaneous lunch we had! I don't usually get a leisurely lunch with them and it was wonderful to eat what felt like a restaurant meal, watching the snow gently fall! thank you for an unexpected lunch (schools closed!!) we will not quickly forget!
Tara
Hi Tara! Well I don't think I was responsible for your great lunch but I'm happy to have been a small part of it. :) 8 inches is quite a snowfall! Soon, soooooooon it will be over. Thanks for finally commenting! ~ karen! ps. I should probably make a black bean burger soon.
Forgive me...I'm a noodle idiot....but can I use ramen noodles?
Hi Vanessa. Sureeee. Why not? People use italian pasta noodles for this (like spaghetti) which I'm kind of opposed to but basically just use whatever noodle you have around. But if you're going to a grocery store pick up some instant noodles. They work best to make it a fast meal and the noddle is the right texture. ~ karen!
Going to try this as soon as we do a grocery run. Question. The vegetables are not cooked? Also looking for the Thai pizza recipe.
One last comment on this delicious recipe. I added some baby kale to the little bit of leftover noodles and sauce when I heated them up. The baby kale was good and not bitter.
This is the best peanut sauce recipe I have ever tasted...thank you so much for sharing. (I know this because I have already made it twice since your post.) p.s. I adore your blog. ~Lili
"4 large servings" *snort*
I made it with cappellini pasta, because that's what I had on hand. I cooked less pasta (one serving only) but made the whole amount of the sauce, because you said it could be stored. WRONG. I guzzled the sauce straight out of the jar during the 3 minutes it took to cook the pasta.
I may be able to use it for a vegetable dip tomorrow. For a single carrot.
Long story short: It tastes great. Thanks for the recipe, Karen!
oh my gosh! so so so good. i used sesame oil since i didn't have sesame seeds for the dressing. I used a bag of pre-shredded cabbage/veggie fixings from the market. Popped the dressing into a recycled salad dressing squeeze bottle. At work today, threw everything into a large serving bowl with the noodles - my coworkers loved it. got lots of compliments and requests for the recipe. thank you
Thanks Kimberly. And thanks for sharing the recipe with people. It looks like this may end up being a real reader favourite. ~ karen!
This recipe was so timely and so good. I had a group of family and friends coming over and wasn't sure how many would stay for dinner. But, I knew we had vegetarians, meat eaters, seafood eaters, old people who don't like new-tangled food, and omnivores. So, I made a pot of noodles and mixed them with the slivered carrots, red pepper, green onions and sauce. Then I had separate bowls with ingredients to add according to taste--steamed broccoli, sautéed shrimp, and sautéed chicken. The shrimp and chicken were sautéed in a little oil and soy sauce. Everyone enjoyed this meal so much! It was delicious, nutritious, and met everyone's needs. Thanks! I will be making this again.
That's a stinkin' GREAT idea Bonnie! Seriously great. A noodle bar! I'm glad it was a hit. Isn't it fun when food is a hit? ~ karen!
Yes, but I woke up at 5:00 am this morning craving those noodles. So good! I will be making this again soon.
Thanks! I needed this!