Lately I've been craving noodle stir fries like pad thai and yakisoba. So the other night I thought I'd whip something up with lots of veggies and lots of peanut butter. I loved this dish because it was easy to put together and it was sooo good, I made it again the following night. Serves 4 or 2 very hungry Gringoes.
250 grams of rice noodles
1/2 large carrot, peeled into strips
1/2 large red or yellow bell pepper, cut into thin strips
1 1/2 cups of broccoli florets and leaves
1/2 large onion, cut into thin half moons
2 large garlic gloves, minced
1 red chili, minced
1 inch of fresh ginger, minced
fresh cilantro to garnish
Peanut Sauce
2 tbs unsalted natural peanut butter
4 tbs dark soy sauce
squeeze of half lime
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp chili flakes
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tbs toasted sesame oil
1 tbs nut or vegetable oil (not olive oil though)
1 large garlic glove, minced
Prepare your veggies first and get a big pot of water boiling for the noodles. Once the water starts boiling, add in your noodles. I found this lovely broccoli at the supermarket and it has lots of leaves. I loved them and enjoyed them in this recipe, however simple broccoli florets works well too.
Start warming up a large wok (or something similar) with a few tablespoons of water. Since the peanut sauce has a generous amount of healthy fats from peanuts and vegetable oils, I didn't want to add anymore to the stir frying process. Once the water starts boiling, add in your onions, garlic and chilies and cook until soft.
Then add in your broccoli and cook for about 5 minutes, then add the bell peppers and carrots. Vegetables lose their vitamins and minerals the longer you cook them, so you don't want to overcook them to the point of complete softness. I cooked them for about 5-10 minutes max. They should retain their color, vitality and crunch!
Meanwhile check your noodles and see if they are close to being done. Different types of noodles have different cooking times, so keep a close eye on them. Once they are overcooked, it's all over. When they are about 5 minutes from being done, start on the peanut sauce. Put all the ingredients together in a little sauce pan and start heating it up over a low heat.
Continuously whisk until you get a creamy, sticky sauce like so. Taste it! It should be sweet, very very salty and yummy. Notice I didn't add salt to the stir fry? That's because regular dark soy sauce is very salty and I felt it had the right amount of salt for my noodles and veggies. If you like things salty, season with salt throughout the stir fry. If you are watching your sodium intake, use reduced sodium soy sauce.
Add your noodles to the veggies and then the sauce. Mix and voila!
Hub and I enjoyed this so much, we ate the whole thing. Both times.
