If it’s anything noodles or rice, count me in. From the age of six, I’ve been told I can amazingly put away the food like a large Asian man. I love all of it and all of the strong flavors that come along with it like sesame, curries, ginger and garlic.

Memories flood my mind of hawker stall delicacies from growing up in Southeast Asia. It wouldn’t matter if these were some of the dirtiest places to grab a plate of food either. What mattered and made people always come back was all the delicious choices from fried rice (nasi goreng) to dumplings to chicken on a stick (satay) to noodles (mie) to picking out live fish to be filleted right in front of you.

While I have been back stateside just as long as I was overseas, I still enjoy finding recipes with Asian flavors to share with friends and family.

So, here is my recipe for a generous portion of savory Thai peanut noodles.

1. Boil 6-8 ounces of thin noodles until al dente. Drain.

Lo mein noodles would be best, or you could also use rice noodles. Spaghetti would suffice too, but that would be cheating and lazy and American.

2. Melt 1.5 tablespoons of butter in a medium size non-stick skillet.

3. Toss in ½ tablespoon of minced garlic.

I normally use the kind already minced and in a jar but freshly grated garlic would work nice also.

4. Toss in your cooked noodles.

5. Whisk together your sauce until thoroughly mixed.

I use 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, 2-3 tablespoons of creamy peanut butter, 1 tablespoon of sugar, 1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes, 1 tablespoon of sesame oil.

6. Pour this sauce mixture over warm noodles in skillet. Toss or stir until sauce is evenly distributed and coats the noodles.

7. Spoon into a bowl that makes you happy.

This is important.

8. Finally, sprinkle with chopped green onion and sesame seeds.

Grab some chopsticks and enjoy!

Savory Thai Peanut Noodles

This recipe will serve 1-2, depending on your willingness to share.

Recipe by Emily Sheddan

Ingredients

6 oz thin noodles
1 ½ tbsp. butter
2 tbsp. soy sauce
2-3 tbsp. creamy peanut butter*
1 tbsp. sugar
1 tbsp. red pepper flakes (or less, if you can’t handle the heat)
1 tbsp. rice vinegar
1 tbsp. sesame oil
½ tbsp. minced garlic (or 2 cloves of fresh grated garlic)
1 stalk green onion (chopped)
1 tbsp. sesame seeds

*The peanut butter can easily be substituted with soy nut butter or sunflower seed butter for those with allergies, like me.

Instructions

1. Cook noodles in boiling water until al dente. Set aside.
2. Melt the butter in a medium non-stick skillet.
3. Add the garlic to the skillet.
4. Toss cooked noodles in with butter and garlic.
3. Whisk all the other ingredients except chopped green onions and sesame seeds together in a bowl.
4. Pour whisked sauce over warm noodles and toss to coat.
5. Serve and sprinkle with green onions and sesame seeds.