These Cold Spicy Noodles Will Soothe Your Sweaty Soul
Summer for me is synonymous with spicy peanut noodles, which I have been making every summer since I was allowed to make my own pasta. I love them so much that they almost make me suffer from horrible, swampy heat and humidity. Nearly.
It’s warm week and we’re on fire! The heat and humidity hit our heads, and all we can think about is getting into the pool and staying there until September. But since we got work to do, damn it, here’s the summer content you crave so much, from the finest icy cocktails to not toasting in the summer sun, we’ve got your (sweaty) back on your toes.
Over the years, I’ve refined my recipe to perfectly match my tastes: first salty, then equal parts spicy, ginger, sweet and vinegar. Quite coincidentally, the proportions are very similar to this carefully researched and picky New Yorkers-approved recipe published by the New York Times in 2007 – the only difference is that I don’t use any fresh ingredients in my sauce.
Fresh ingredients are almost always desirable, but I find fresh ginger and garlic to be a barrier to making perfect peanut noodles. Fresh ginger seems harder to peel than it actually is (I admit this is a personal problem), but I hate his tendency most of all to leave tough little strings in my sauce. As for the garlic, a fresh clove lends a great bite for one day, but on the third day, the flavor changes from pleasantly spicy to “shit, should I throw this out already?” (This is why I don’t add raw garlic to homemade mayonnaise.) Replacing fresh flavors with pickled and / or fermented ones produces a delicious sauce with an optimized ingredient list that keeps in the refrigerator for weeks – so you can make spicy peanut noodles on a whim. Serve them with a pretty minced cucumber salad or quick pickled meats, and I promise no one misses out on raw garlic.
Cold spicy peanut noodles
Every ingredient in this recipe has earned its place over the years, but there are only two points not to be missed. First, always use equal parts soy sauce and peanut butter (or tahini or sunflower oil, or a mixture of both). The nut butter is only used to thicken the sauce and chop up the stronger flavors; Mistaking him for the star of the show is a great way to end up with bland noodles. Second, use pickled ginger, not fresh ginger. It adds that unmistakable ginger flavor as well as sweetness and acidity – perfect for multitasking. For the rest of the ingredients, use whatever you have and love. Sriracha, sambal olek, or chili chips are great alternatives to garlic chili sauce, and if you don’t have any seasoned rice vinegar, unflavored ingredients – or, frankly, any light vinegar – plus extra salt or sugar will do. (No vinegar? Use ginger pickle.)
As written, it makes just over one cup of sauce, which is more than enough for half a pound of dried noodles. I always use soba, but any variety will work with this technique; the rice noodles are delicious and gluten free, and something less traditional, I love the massive and tubular structure of the bucatini.
Ingredients:
- ½ lb. dried noodles of your choice
- ¼ cup (65 g) soy sauce or tamari
- ¼ cup (65 g) peanut butter of any kind (tahini or sunflower oil are great for nut allergies)
- Glasses (75-80 grams) of pickled ginger with a slide
- 2 tablespoons (30 grams) seasoned rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons (30 grams) toasted sesame oil, chili, or regular
- 2 tablespoons (30 grams) fermented chili and garlic hot sauce, such as Huy Fong Chili Garlic
- Fish sauce or table salt to taste
- Granulated sugar to taste
- Large handful of fresh cilantro leaves and stems (optional)
- Toasted sesame seeds, chopped onions, furikake, togarashi, chili oil, chopped peanuts, and / or extra chopped cilantro for serving
Instructions:
Bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil and simmer the sauce while it warms up.
You’re about to mash all the ingredients in the sauce, so pick your weapon – food processor, blender, blender – and add everything except the cilantro (and of course the dried noodles).
Whisk the sauce until smooth, then taste and change the seasonings with a few of whatever ingredients you need. Keep going until you have something spicy, salty, sweet, and out of the ordinary, too intense to eat on its own, but so addicting that you can’t stop. If using, add cilantro and blitz to blend, or chop finely and toss in the sauce.
Cook the noodles in boiling water according to package directions, adding a minute or two as needed to soften throughout. ( Ideal al dente noodles get crispy in the refrigerator.) Drain and rinse under cold running water until completely cool, stirring gently with your hands to rinse off any starch. Mix a teaspoon or more of sesame oil to coat the strands and transfer to a mixing bowl.
Depending on how much noodles you cook, all the sauce you may or may not need. Starting slowly, season the sauce a few tablespoons at a time, stopping when it really tastes good. Divide into bowls, garnish with the seasoning of your choice, and head into town.
I would happily eat these noodles as a stand-alone meal – and have done so on many occasions – but a little extra protein does complete the situation. Thinly sliced steak, grilled tofu or pickled hard-boiled egg would be great here, but chicken thighs are my favorites. This time, I opted for the classic miso-mirin-soy marinade (plus grated ginger and, of course, cheap beer ) and roasted the thighs for 10 minutes on each side until they were warm and charred. It was the perfect way to put on a ton of a carb-rich main course and I’ll be eating leftovers all weekend.