By Patricia Heaton
4.2
(14)
Photo by Ed Anderson
Remember those sesame noodles I used to order in New York as a cash- strapped actress? Well, I’ve re-created my own recipe here and, in my humble opinion, it’s even better than the original. Best part? This is a cinch to make.
Recipe information
Yield
4 servings
Ingredients
8 ounces Chinese egg noodles, cappellini, or pad thai– style rice noodles
1 tablespoon peanut oil
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 teaspoons toasted sesame seeds
1 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoons freshly grated ginger, or 1 tablespoon ground ginger
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon sriracha or other red chile sauce
2 Persian cucumbers, 1 grated, 1 thinly sliced
1 scallion, chopped
1/4 cup salted roasted peanuts, chopped
1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
Preparation
Step 1
Bring a pot of water to a boil. Prepare a bowl of ice water.
Step 2
Cook the noodles in boiling water until al dente, 3 to 5 minutes. Drain and transfer to a bowl of ice water and soak for 5 minutes, until well chilled. Drain again, return to the bowl, toss with the peanut oil, and set aside.
Step 3
In a large bowl, whisk together the peanut butter, sesame oil, rice vinegar, soy sauce, sesame seeds, honey, ginger, garlic, red pepper flakes, and sriracha. Fold in the grated cucumber, half the scallion, and half the peanuts. Add the chilled pasta and toss to coat thoroughly. Transfer to a serving bowl, twirling the pasta into a nest shape. Top with the sliced cucumber, cilantro, and the remaining scallion and peanuts.
From Patricia Heaton's Food for Family and Friends © 2018 by Patricia Heaton. Reprinted with permission from William Morrow Cookbooks, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.Buy the full book from HarperCollins or from Amazon.
TagsHarper CollinsCookbooksNoodleDinnerCucumberVegetableAsianPeanutNutPeanut ButterGingerVegetarianVeganSesameChillSummer
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Reviews (14)
Back to TopTriangleThis is the best recipe for cold noodles!!!
Anonymous
NY
10/18/2021
Made this tonight and added some asparagus (blanched and chilled) to the bowl. Also added a squeeze of fresh lime juice to the finished dish.I thought it was a little bland , next time I will put some Asian fish sauce in the dressing just for a hit of Umami:)
grammyles
Vancouver, BC
4/20/2021
There was not much flavor to this - a little too simple and boring.
suzfi
NYC
10/30/2019
Well, I forgot the garlic and cilantro (they were prepped but I was interrupted during preparation.) it’s still an awesome cool dinner for these hot days! I will add a bit of the garlic and some of the cilantro in the leftovers, this was a terrific dinner and will be a great lunch tomorrow! I made it exactly as written (except for the forgotten garlic and cilantro!) and this will definitely be repeated this summer!
ElaineGloeckle
Boise, Idaho
7/23/2019
Tried this as a quick & easy weeknight dish and it was a total hit! It's simple but packs a lot of flavor. Cold noodle dishes are great for hot summer nights. I personally reduced the amount of sriracha and pepper flakes just because some people in my household can't handle spicy foods, but even reduced it still packed some heat. Would 100% make again. I even used leftover ramen noodles the other day and made a lazy-man, modified version of them.
sarahelliott964900
Portland, OR
7/14/2019
This was exactly what I was looking for! I knew I wanted to cook a pound of pasta, and could tell this was probably in some ways already a double noodle recipe so I just doubled the aromatics I like - garlic and peanut butter - and also did not have cucumber so I used carrots which sweetened everything up enough to offset the spicy. Tripled the scallions until I could taste them. I used chili garlic sauce (rooster brand) instead of sriracha so I could have skipped the crushed red pepper flakes, but we do like the spice in our house, so it was not the end of the world. I had parsley instead of cilantro, so I little more Frenchy. Next time I will do it with the cucumber, but I think the brilliance is in the sauce itself, not the add-ins, so I like this as an ad hoc dinner...
abheiniger5307
Santa Fe, NM
7/7/2019
These were so good and the recipe I was looking for. Mine we a little soupy but that was my fault on the choice of pasta. I left out the red pepper flakes completely after looking at the other reviews and it was perfect. Can't wait to make again. Thanks for the recipe
janec70
DC Area
6/30/2019
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