Monday, July 13, 2009

Noodles with Peanut Sauce

My apologies to those with peanut, or nut allergies. You may want to pass this post on by. My husband and I loooove noodles with peanut sauce, or Dan dan noodles/sesame noodles (little different, but close)/noodles with gado gado sauce/whatever you call it, we so love it.
My sister and I discovered this tiny noodle shop in Santa Cruz, CA, behind the bookstore (pre-earthquake), which sold Dan dan won ton noodles. You'd get this little bowl of steaming hot won ton noodles, covered in the peanut sauce and a few julienned cukes on top. Wow. Who knew heaven came in a bowl? I returned as many times as I could without drawing suspicion from those behind the counter. "Doesn't she have a home?" I could hear them asking themselves. Oh. But I loooved those noodles. And I never tried anything else from there - ever.
My sister and I discovered we could make these noodles at home - from Moosewood's Gado Gado recipe. Almost the same, but without the ambience of the quaint little noodle shop. One year for Christmas, I gave my father a huge batch of sauce in a beautiful container. I'm not sure he knew what to say, as you see, the sauce is a bit bland in color - like watered down peanuts. But oh, so good. You have to try it. Here's the recipe:

Any package (or fresh) noodle of your choice, cooked to your liking.

1 C peanut butter, creamy or crunchy - natural, no sugar added
1 tsp minced garlic
1 inch piece of ginger, minced
small dash of hot sauce - to taste
1/8 C soy sauce or to taste
2 T toasted sesame oil
water - 1/2 to 3/4 C

In food processor, put all your ingredients except the water. Pulse a few times to get things moving. You will notice that the soy sauce and the peanut butter have a chemical reaction, and make the mixture quite thick. Add water as the processor is on, but watch carefully that you don't add too much and make the mixture too runny - you want it to stick to the noodles. Season to your liking - more hot sauce, more soy sauce, more garlic, etc. Stop the processor and pour the sauce over the cooked, drained noodles.

Close your eyes when you taste these noodles for the first time. Trust me - it's heaven. And you can make them anytime. Enjoy!

7 comments:

Lisa said...

ooooh, you have some yummy recipes. Thanks so much, always looking for veg. recipes!

lisa ;)

Stacy said...

Hi Jill, thanks for visiting my blog! The noodles with peanut sauce look delicious. I was suprised that you mentioned Santa Cruz because I am close by in San Jose ... I haven't met too many other bloggers in the area. I love Santa Cruz. I really like the picture of the bird in your Blogger image-- what kind of bird is that?

Sycamore Moon Studios said...

I know what we're having for dinner tonight! Won't make the kitchen too hot, either! Thanks!

Lisa said...

Oh my Gosh, I looooove this recipe! And yes, that quaint little noodle shop was AMAZING!
-your sis-

Dogwood said...

OHMYGOSH...memories, memories, memories! That was one of the first places "my guy" of 20 years took me for dinner!!! We were the same~always had the same dish Noodles with Peanut Sauce. I had never had it before and immediatly fell in love with the flavor. I miss that little place so much. For dinner tonight I had: Lean Cuisine Chicken in Peanut Sauce. Not bad when you don't want to cook. Can't wait to try the recipe from the Moosewood cookbook!! I am a friend of Stacy at Goldenbird. Cory Dogwood

Jill said...

Stacy (Goldenbird) and Cory (Dogwood) - I lived in Santa Cruz while attending UCSC, but now live on the East Coast. I have fond memories of bumping around town, and SC was pretty amazing. I'm not too sure of the name of the bird on my image - though the picture is mine, from the National Zoo in Washington DC. I'll keep looking for it though, and let you know.

Sycamore Moon Studios said...

I came back AGAIN because I lost the recipe I wrote down the first time. They are THAT yummy!