Peanut Soba Noodles
I stood in the kitchen with 2 carrots, handful of green beans from the yard, staring, feeling clueless like a Chopped contestant. I knew I didn’t want to making anything Indian, so I walked to the pantry and grabbed the pack of Soba Noodles, set its dull brown self conscious self next to the seemingly intimidating brights – orange and green. In walks the husband and declares, “In your secret basket, you have, carrots, green beans, soba and….,” I said, “peanuts!” and so this simple and delicious recipe was born. Clearly, we have both been watching too much Chopped, but oh well! 
I must say, the inspiration for the sauce comes from several sources:
- “Asian Noodles”, an awesome book by Nina Simmonds
- Several peanuty entrees at several Thai restaurants
Peanut Soba Noodles
Ingredients to Serve 6
- 12 oz Buckwheat Soba Noodles (I used Nanka Seimen – Mine weren’t “Extra fancy” like it says, LOL! just plain old soba)
- 3 cups vegetables of your choice. I used:
- 2 carrots, shredded
- 1 cup, Green beans, cut in 1″ pieces
- 1 Tablespoon oil, preferably Sesame oil
- Dash of Mirin
- Dash of lemon juice
- Cilantro for garnish
- For the sauce
- 6 Tablespoons peanut butter OR 1/2 cup finely ground peanuts
- 5 cloves garlic
- 1 inch piece ginger
- 1 jalapeno pepper (optional)
- 1 Tablespoon Sriracha (adjust according to taste)
- 3 Tablespoons Soy sauce
- 2 Tablespoons Vegetarian Worcestershire sauce (optional but adds a nice kick)
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 4 Tablespoons water
Cook the noodles according to the instructions on the pack and set aside. This will be your typical boiling in 4 qt of water for 4-5 minutes. After draining out the water, I spray just a little bit of cooking oil spray on the noodles to keep them from sticking.
While the noodles are boiling, make the sauce. Put all the above sauce ingredients in a blender and blend. Adjust the ingredients according to your taste. Set the sauce aside.
In a wok, heat the sesame oil. If you are using green beans and carrots like me, then add the green beans first. Cook them for 3-4 minutes, then add the shredded carrots. Saute for a minute.
Add the sauce and saute for another minute.
Add the noodles and mirin and toss everything together for 2-3 minutes.
Just before serving, garnish with lemon juice and cilantro.
Enjoy!
This turned out to be a quick and delicious recipe – a big hit too! Definitely worth making again and again!
