Thursday, January 26, 2012

Will work for Peanut Salad...

I've gone to great lengths for this dish.  I stayed at a dead-end job, at which my boss pocketed a good deal of my tips.  I drove an hour out of town to another location when the restaurant I worked at went under, and I spent hours in the kitchen trying to recreate it when the chain closed down completely.  Sometimes the effort was an abysmal one, sometimes it came close, but never did I feel the satisfaction that the real thing brought me- until now.


 Thai Peanut Noodle Salad.


It's spicy.  It's tangy.  It's creamy, crispy, and crunchy.  It's back in my life again, and best of all?  I'm the one who's in charge.


Thai Peanut Noodle Salad
Yield: 4-5 servings
Dressing:
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup full fat coconut milk
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup water
1/8 cup soy sauce
3 tsp sriracha
2 tbsp sesame oil
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp crushed or finely grated ginger root
2 tbsp sugar

Salad:
1 lb spaghetti or angel hair noodles (or whatever kind you want, really)
chopped green onions
grated carrot
bean sprouts
chopped peanuts

Add peanut butter, coconut milk, rice vinegar, soy sauce, and water to medium saucepan and heat to medium.  Whisk well, then add rest of ingredients and continue to whisk until well combined.  Cover and simmer for 10 minutes.  Let cool, then refrigerate for at least an hour (you could eat it hot, but it is a salad after all.)
Cook pasta according to instructions on package and rinse to cool.  Stir in sauce.  Add some green onions, grated carrots, bean sprouts and chopped peanuts.  Swoon.

3 comments:

  1. I love Asian noodle salads, so I really want to try this recipe. But I've got a couple of questions. Can this be made with natural peanut butter? I don't stock the super creamy peanut butters like Jif or Skippy. Also, just to make sure, the coconut milk you use is the kind used in Thai cooking, right?

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    Replies
    1. I'm not sure about the natural peanut butter. I tried it once and it was so awful I haven't looked back since. I'm sure it was just a bad brand, and I know it's much healthier so I really should give it another chance. I used full fat coconut milk for this and thank you for asking- I will update that in the recipe.

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  2. Thanks for your reply. The peanut butter issue is strange. I've been using natural Laura Scudder's for over 30 years. I'm so used to it that now the stuff like Skippy tastes and feels strange to me -- not peanutty enough and too smooth like Crisco. Plus the natural peanut butter brands offer salt-free versions. But I've noticed that some of the regular brands have come out with lower sodium versions. Maybe that's what I should use. I can see that the ultra creaminess would probably work best in a chilled salad.

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