Today is Day #2 of VeganMoFo 2013 – celebrating the entire month with delicious vegan food. Woo Hoo!! Be sure to check out some of the thousand bloggers who are participating!
I’m not big on cold food but I love cold noodles in peanut sauce. Whenever we would get Chinese food, along with the other appetizers, we always got an order of cold sesame noodles. I missed that dish so I wanted to make my own version of it.
Instead of making it Chinese though, I decided to go for Thai flavors. Thai food is still somewhat new to me – I think I had it 3 times in a restaurant. I’ve been making more dishes with a Thai spin lately and I’m loving it.
Thai rice noodles are perfect for this dish. They are thin and cook up quickly. If you don’t have rice noodles, any spaghetti or linguine will do. I use brown rice spaghetti for a gluten-free dish. And if you don’t want the carbs of any pasta, thin zucchini “noodles” would be great too.
This sauce is both creamy and spicy with peanut butter, Thai chili sauce, ginger and coconut milk melding to create an intense flavor. The peanut butter gives you that comforting feeling with the unexpected but welcome zing of the chile sauce.
Serve this with shredded cabbage and chopped peanuts for a crunchy texture that helps cut the stickiness of the peanut butter.
This dish is perfect for an appetizer or an entrée. My Cold Rice Noodles in a Spicy Thai Peanut Sauce is a familiar dish with a new twist I know you’ll love. Enjoy!
Cold Rice Noodles in Spicy Thai Peanut Sauce
GF
14 oz. Thai rice noodles or any spaghetti
½ cup canned coconut milk
½ cup gluten-free tamari
¼ cup water
2 Tbs. brown rice vinegar
1-2 Tbs. Thai chile sauce, to taste
1 Tbs. arrowroot
¼ cup peanut butter
1 Tbs. fresh ginger, chopped or 1 tsp. ground ginger
Shredded cabbage, for garnish
¼ cup roasted peanuts, chopped, for garnish
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. When the water boils, remove the pot from the heat. Add the rice noodles to the pot. Stir with a spoon or tongs. Let the noodles cook in the water for 8 – 10 minutes until al dente. Drain and rinse with cold water. Transfer the noodles to a large bowl and set aside until ready to use.
In a food processor or blender, combine the coconut milk, tamari, water, vinegar, chile sauce, arrowroot, peanut butter and ginger. Process or blend until smooth. Transfer the sauce to a saucepan. Cook over medium heat. Bring the sauce to a boil and then simmer until it thickens a bit. If the sauce is too thick, add more water.
Pour the sauce over the cold noodles and stir until the noodles are completely coated. Garnish with shredded cabbage and chopped peanuts before serving.
The “V” Word: Say it. Eat it. Live it.
Yum!! Made this last night to try on myself before trying it for some friends. Super good!!
Oh yum! I’ll never pass up an opportunity to try a new peanut sauce!
Hope you like it Randi 🙂