Subject: RECIPE: Chinese-style peanut noodles
From: [email-masked] (Jeffrey Mogul)
Date: 29 Jul 88 05:35:54 GMT
Newsgroups: alt.gourmand

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.RH MOD.RECIPES-SOURCE PEANUT-NOODLES V "12 Feb 88" 1988
.RZ "PEANUT NOODLES" "Chinese-style noodles with a spicy peanut sauce"
This recipe is not authentic Chinese; it was created by combining readily
available ingredients and double-checking against a Satay recipe.
It's close to a Satay sauce but not quite the same thing.
It's also similar to a recipe in the \fIEnchanted Broccoli Forest,\fR by
Mollie Katzen.
.IH "Serves 4"
.IG "1 pound" "fresh chinese-style noodles" "500 g"
.IG "\(12 Tbsp" "garlic chili paste" "10 ml"
.IG "2 Tbsp" "good peanut butter" "25 g"
(without added sugar).
.IG "1 Tbsp" "nam pla" "15 ml"
(fermented fish sauce)
.IG "\(12 cup" "water" "120 ml"
.IG "2 stalks" "chopped scallions"
.PH
.SK 1
Boil a lot of water for the noodles; this is the most
time-consuming step.
.SK 2
Rinse and trim scallions, then slice thinly.
.SK 3
In a small mixing bowl, combine peanut butter and chili paste
with a fork.  Mix thoroughly.
.SK 4
Add water to the peanut mixture.  This is tricky, since peanut butter
and water do not want to mix.  Start with a tiny bit of water, mix
thoroughly until it is homogeneous, and then add some more water.
You can begin to add larger quantities of water as the sauce gets
thinner.  The water and peanut butter really will mix, if you are patient.
.SK 5
Continue adding water until the sauce has the consistency you want;
I make it about the consistency of ketchup.
.SK 6
Stir in the nam pla.
.SK 7
Once the pot of water is boiling, cook the noodles until they are just
done, and not mushy.
.SK 8
Drain noodles and immediately mix in the sauce.  Toss until the
noodles are evenly coated.
.SK 9
Garnish with scallions, and serve.
.NX
The ingredients are readily available at oriental grocery stores. Substitute
soy sauce if you can't find nam pla. For fresh noodles,  
you can substitute several packages of ramen noodles, discarding sauce powders.
.PP
This basic recipe may be varied by modifying quantities.  Vary the
chili paste to control hotness, and the nam pla to control saltiness
(but the sauce will taste saltier before mixing with the noodles).
.PP
This will keep for at least a week in the refrigerator.
.PP
Serve with a good beer; it's too spicy for most wines.
.PP
If you use this as the main dish of a meal, it serves only two.
.SH RATING
.I Difficulty:
easy.
.I Time:
5 minutes plus waiting for the water to boil.
.I Precision:
No need to measure.
.WR
Jeffrey Mogul
Digital Equipment Corp., Western Research Lab, Palo Alto, California, USA
[email-masked]	decwrl!mogul