Chinese Peanut Sauce Noodles 沙县拌面 – Homemade

After going a bit crazy with the going out, it’s no surprise I was craving for something simple at home like Chinese Peanut Sauce Noodles. And after look around Instagram at my fellow Asian foodies, I settled on an easy recipe very quickly.

Apparently a dish originating from Shaxian in Fujian – which was quite surprising to me as my grandparents were from Fujian but I’ve never heard of this dish, it can be eaten both hot or cold. Some times it’s served as a side dish alongside other ingredients but in this case, I have used it as a main course.

You can use any type of noodle that you like, even instant ramen – if you please. But in my case, I used udon noodles as it was just simpler to find and I prefer it over egg noodles. Otherwise, the usual is to use fresh wheat noodles like ban mian or la mian. Hey, you can even use spaghetti if you want. I mean, the sky is the limit!

I know it sounds kinda gross using peanut butter in a savoury dish, especially one like noodles. I mean The Elvis burgers in loads of chains feature peanut butter sauce atop beef patties and maple bacon – so I guess it’s not that far out of the realm of possibility. The most important thing here is to use good peanut butter. The kind that separates into oil and pulp if you leave it to stand at room temperature.

These types of natural peanut butter usually have no added sugar or emulsifiers. It’s literally just peanut, a touch of salt and natural oils from the peanuts. This way the peanut butter is almost like a blank canvas. Adding some jam would make the combination sweet but equally, throwing it into a bowl of noodles as a sauce would work perfectly well too! I went the extra step of adding tahini as I felt that would add more depth of flavour. You can use either or to be honest with you. Or even alternate nut butters like almond or brazil nuts. As long as the base taste of the paste is not sweet – you’ll be golden.

If you decide to defy my tips and go with Skippy or something. Let me know if your noodles turn out alright or weird? Also this is the perfect 1 person meal if you’re cooking simply just for yourself and you don’t want to fuss about with too many pots and pans.

Chinese Peanut Sauce Noodle Recipe

Prep time: 10 minutes, Cook time: 10 minutes, Feeds: 1 person

Ingredients

• 1 packet of udon noodles
• ~5g ginger, chopped
• ~5g garlic, chopped
• 5g of peanut butter (I used Merdian smooth peanut butter)
• 5g tahini (optional)
• 5g Laoganma Chilli Crisp Oil
• 5ml sesame oil
• 5ml dark soy sauce
• 5ml light soy sauce
• 5ml fish sauce
• 15 ml black vinegar
• ~15ml hot water
• Salt, to taste
• Sesame seeds, for garnish

Method

• Cook the udon noodles according to package instructions. Set aside once done.
• Add the chopped garlic and ginger into a clean bowl. Add in the peanut butter and tahini paste.
• Pour in 5ml of the hot water first and stir until the peanut butter and tahini forms a slightly thick sauce. Add more/less water depending on your preference of sauciness.
• Add the chilli oil, light and dark soy sauce, fish sauce, sesame oil and black vinegar into the concoction. Stir to incorporate well.
• Drain the udon noodles and toss them into the sauce. Using a pair of chopsticks, mix the noodles until the sauce coats every single strand.
• Add salt or any of the aromatics (vinegar, chill, sesame oil, etc) to taste.
• Toast the sesame seeds lightly in a pan if you want, or simply just sprinkle them untoasted on the top of your noodles for decoration.
• Eat while hot for a warm version or chill in the fridge for a couple of hours for a cold peanut noodle salad of sorts.

I really was not expecting to enjoy this noodle dish, but I did and I definitely cannot wait to make it again. Super easy, delicious and made with everything that’s already in your (Asian) pantry! It’s also a similar flavour profile to Dan Dan Noodles