Cold Asian Noodle Salad
This cold Asian noodle salad features a deliciously complex peanut sauce that melds savory, salty, spicy, and sweet. Combined with rice noodles, baby bok choy, and cucumber, this salad makes for the perfect gluten-free lunch or easy dinner.
Servings: 4
Calories: 586kcal
Ingredients
For the Peanut Sauce
- 1 tbsp ginger fresh, peeled and diced
- 1 clove garlic peeled and chopped
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp chile flakes crushed
- 1/2 cup peanut butter smooth
- 1/4 cup tamari or soy sauce
- 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce or choose a vegan option
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- 3 tbsp sesame oil 2 tbsp for the sauce +1 additional tbsp for the noodles
- 1/3 cup water
For the Noodles
- 1/2 lb rice noodles spaghetti-style-I like Tinkyada brand, or you can use udon noodles if you don't need the dish to be gluten-free
- 2 bunches baby bok choy ends trimmed off and chopped
- 1 bunch scallions or early spring onions, use the green parts in the salad, and garnish with the minced whites, if you like
- 1 cucumber large, peeled, seeded and julienned
- cilantro minced for garnish-optional
- Sriracha for serving if you like it spicy-optional
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds toasted-optional
Instructions
- In a food processor or blender, pulse together the ginger, garlic, and brown sugar. Add the chili flakes, peanut butter, tamari, Worcestershire sauce, rice vinegar, 2 tablespoons of the sesame oil, and 1/3 cup water and process again until smooth. Transfer to a smaller bowl and refrigerate sauce for at least an hour.
- Cook noodles according to package directions. Toss bok choy into the boiling water with the noodles for the last minute of so of cooking. Drain and rinse with cold water to chill the noodles, then toss with the 1 tablespoon of sesame oil.
- Mix noodles and blanched bok choy with the chilled sauce (which you can thin with a little boiling water if it's thickened up after refrigeration), the scallions, and the julienned cucumber. Garnish with cilantro and toasted sesame seeds before serving, and douse with some Sriracha, if desired.
Notes
If gluten is not an issue, feel free to use soy sauce in place of tamari and udon noodles in place of rice noodles.
Nutrition
Calories: 586kcal | Carbohydrates: 74g | Protein: 12g | Fat: 28g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 9g | Monounsaturated Fat: 13g | Sodium: 1174mg | Potassium: 459mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 19g | Vitamin A: 217IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 88mg | Iron: 2mg