Peanut Udon Noodles are one of my favorite lunches, although I really don’t make them as often as I should. You can eat them warm or cold; you can load them up with any veggies you happen to have on hand. (I made this version with snow peas, but I’ve also used red peppers, green onions, zucchini, and cucumbers.) I’ve tried a lot of peanut noodle recipes in my day, but this is the best by far. What else is there to say about peanut noodles? Well, not much, so instead, here are some random tips that will come in handy when you make this recipe. (And you are making this recipe, right?)
Does this happen to you? You buy the fancy natural peanut butter, you open it up, and there’s about a half inch of oil on top. You try to stir it all together and get oil all over your hands and counter and despite your best efforts, the peanut butter is still dry and rock hard by the time you get to the bottom of the jar. Solution: before you open your jars of peanut butter, store them upside down. That way, the oil will float to the bottom. When you’re ready to use it and turn it right side up, it’s much easier to stir without that layer of oil on top.
Ginger is a pain to peel. It’s too small for a regular peeler and using a paring knife is tough without cutting off all the little branches and knobby little protuberances. (Can we nominate “protuberance” as one of the ugliest words in the English language?) Solution: use a spoon. Yes, you can peel ginger with a spoon! Just scrape the skin right off with the edge.
Ingredients
- 8 oz dried udon noodles
- 4 oz snow peas strings removed
- 1/2 cup natural peanut butter
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
- 2 tsp brown sugar optional
- 1 tsp grated fresh ginger
- 1 garlic clove minced
- pinch of red pepper flakes or sriracha to taste optional
- 2 –4 tbsp water
- 1/4 cup chopped roasted peanuts
Instructions
- Cook udon noodles according to package directions. One minute before cooking time ends, add snow peas to pot. Drain and set aside.
- While noodles are cooking, whisk together peanut butter, rice vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, brown sugar, ginger, garlic, and red pepper flakes or sriracha (if using). Whisk in water 1 tablespoon at a time until sauce is smooth but still flavorful. (Different peanut butter brands will produce different consistencies of sauce, so it's hard to be exact about the amount of water needed. The sauce will thin out a little bit once added to the noodles, so don't add too much water or the end result will be bland.)
- Add noodles and snow peas back to pot. Stir in peanut sauce. Serve topped with roasted peanuts and additional sriracha, if desired.
95 Comments
BusyWorkingMama
March 4, 2013 at 3:53 pmI’m not envisioning how to scrape ginger with a spoon! I usually peel it with a knife like I would a potato 🙂
Kiersten
March 4, 2013 at 3:57 pmI know it sounds weird, but it works! You just kind of gently scrape the edge of the spoon onto the ginger and the skin will start coming off. Once you get a little off, the rest is easy.
Chris
March 6, 2013 at 5:19 pmhaving worked in kitchens since 95′ I was amazing when I figured out how well a spoon works on ginger , you don’t loose as much product either by slicing so far into the meat of the root and the small ‘nubs’ can be peeled with ease instead of getting cut or sliced off. It is also so much faster than a peeler or knife because you can zip right through it like a perfect carrot without any chance of slicing yourself. 🙂
Jen @ Savory Simple
March 4, 2013 at 7:51 pmI seriously want to stick my face in that bowl. How delicious!!!
Natalie
March 4, 2013 at 8:30 pmCreamy PB pasta dish is totally my kind of dish! Good stuff.
Dara
March 4, 2013 at 9:01 pmFabulous. Love the peanut noodles – I could eat these every day.
Serena (serenabakessimplyfromscratch)
March 4, 2013 at 9:29 pmI love the noodles with the peanut sauce and snow peas! Delicious!
Hannah @ CleanEatingVeggieGirl
March 4, 2013 at 9:49 pmPeanut sauce with pasta is AMAZING!! I absolutely love your idea to add a spicy kick of sriracha too :).
Kare @ Kitchen Treaty
March 4, 2013 at 10:14 pmLove this recipe and love your brilliant tips – I would have never thought to do either one of those things!
Natalie @ Once Upon a Cutting Board
March 4, 2013 at 10:40 pmI love peanut soba noodles, so easy and love that they can be eaten hot or cold. I’ve never had peanut sauce with udon noodles but that sounds great too – your udon noodles look so different from the thick ones I’m used to though, I bet the thin ones work better (I had no idea there even were thin udon noodles!)
Kiersten
March 7, 2013 at 12:26 pmThey’re the dried udon noodles–they don’t boil up as thick as the fresh ones. The only place I can find the fresh udon around here is about 45 minutes away. :/
Natalie @ Once Upon a Cutting Board
March 7, 2013 at 12:31 pmOh I didn’t know there were dry ones .. I should look for those, the fresh ones in the watery package kind of creep me out a little anyway 🙂
Kiersten
March 8, 2013 at 10:46 amHa! I know what you mean. I bought a bunch of instant noodle lunches when they were on sale at the grocery store and when I opened up the noodles, they were so… weird.
Stephanie @ henry happened
March 4, 2013 at 10:57 pmyou are so right about the peanut butter – I always get the oil all over myself, the counter, everything. So glad to know I should store it upside down! I’ve never made udon noodles – do you get them at the grocery?
Kiersten
March 7, 2013 at 12:25 pmYup, they sell them in the ethnic aisle. 🙂
Mum's the word
March 4, 2013 at 11:31 pmooooh what a great combi! Peanuts and Udon!!
Stacy
March 5, 2013 at 12:36 amIf you put 1/4 of that layers of peanut butter oil, and your peanut butter into a blender (I use a magic bullet), it blends perfectly and does not separate…you do not need all of that oil to have smooth and silky peanut butter!
In fact, I make my own nut butter at times and it NEVER separates into oil on top and nut butter on bottom. That thick layer of oil on top of any nut butter makes me suspicious.
Kiersten
March 7, 2013 at 12:25 pmI buy peanut butter made only with peanuts and salt, so I know the oil isn’t added after the fact. I suspect it’s just because the store bought stuff is sitting for a longer period of time than the homemade, so it has more time to separate…
Katie (The Muffin Myth)
March 5, 2013 at 2:53 amI usually don’t bother peeling my ginger – I just keep it in the freezer and grate the frozen root with my microplane. Protuberances? Awesome. It’s the protuberances and invaginations that make ginger so hard to peel, which is why I don’t bother 😉 I’m with you on peanut butter storage as well. Strangely, I’m finding that my home made nut butters don’t separate. I wonder if they just haven’t had the time on a shelf / in a truck / in a store to sit and separate. In any case, these noodles look great. Quick and easy, which is definitely what I’m after these days.
Kiersten
March 7, 2013 at 12:23 pmYeah, I’ve noticed the same thing with homemade nut butters. I’m guessing it’s just because they’re not sitting as long?
Oh, and invaginations is now my word of the day. So thank you for that. 🙂
Carolyn
March 5, 2013 at 8:41 amYeah, natural peanut butter is kind of a pain sometimes! I love peanut noodles, I make mine with shirataki noodles but the idea is similar!
Jeanette
March 5, 2013 at 9:19 amGreat tips! I hate that when you open the jar of peanut butter and the oils all on top, then it splatters everywhere when you try to stir it up. The spoon trick is great too! As for your peanut noodles – I just love them. Been making a version called Dan Dan Noodles lately that uses toasted sesame paste, but peanut butter works great too.
Jennifer H
March 5, 2013 at 9:24 amYum!! I’d love to try this.
Emily
March 5, 2013 at 4:45 pmOh. My. Gosh. This looks so amazingly delicious. Yep, making this one for sure!
angela @ another bite please
March 5, 2013 at 4:47 pmi love this post…for so many reasons….1. i love peanut asian flavor…we’ve been eating lots of dishes like this so can’t wait to try this one. 2. lol about the peanut butter that drives me crazy with the natural…or when it gets dried out at the end of the jar is always a bummer and lastly ginger i think, well i know i waste a lot of ginger the way i cut it…i will try the spoon tip!
NaanBread
March 5, 2013 at 5:38 pmNoodles and peanuts are one of my favorite combination! I cannot eat peanut butter on bread but I can surely eat it this way!
Kiran @ KiranTarun.com
March 5, 2013 at 7:48 pmGreat tip about the PB jar my friend. Have to try it soon!
Love this udon noodles. I can’t wait for sunshine to make this cold noodle salad soon 🙂
Elizabeth A.
March 5, 2013 at 9:30 pmThat sounds really good. Of course you can’t go wrong when something is peanut flavored :-). I think I’ll have to try it with cucumbers (love those things!).
Meghan @JaMonkey
March 5, 2013 at 10:24 pmThank you for the Peanut butter tip. I always forget!
Sylvie @ Gourmande in the Kitchen
March 5, 2013 at 11:36 pmLove those tips, I store all my nut butter jars upside down before I open them to make them easier to stir and it really works!
Genevieve
March 6, 2013 at 7:11 pmI agree with everything you said about peanut noodles – they’re awesome warm or cold, and lots of different veggies go with them – my favourites are broccoli and red pepper 🙂
Thanks for the peanut butter tip too – I don’t buy that kind of peanut butter often, but I will try it next time I do!
Honey What's Cooking
March 7, 2013 at 11:12 pmthis looks delicious. I love asian noodles. i’ve made something similar and I used ellie krieger’s recipe, very similar and uses peanut butter too.
Shirley
March 8, 2013 at 1:02 amI am bookmarking this for a lunch sometime soon! Yum. Great tip about the natural peanut butter. I once bought some and found the whole oil separation in the fridge thing weird, and went back to *unnatural* peanut butter. lol I don’t eat PB a lot these days, but I’ll give the natural stuff another shot.
Kiersten
March 8, 2013 at 10:36 amDid it still separate after you refrigerated it? Once I stir it and refrigerate it, I’ve never had it separate again!
Shirley
March 13, 2013 at 11:04 pmI think so, but maybe I didn’t stir it well… it was a while back. It was one of those generic brands, like Jif or Skippy, from their natural line. My sis just bought and left some organic almond butter in my fridge, and I’m liking it. The sight of the oil is still a shock though. It’s usually so well hidden and integrated. 😉