Friday, March 2, 2007

Chinese Noodle Salad w/Spicy Peanut Sauce

I love this salad. In my book, it's a real palate pleaser. Moo knew I liked anything with Asian peanut sauce so she came up with this one for me. Of course, Thai cooking uses a lot of peanut sauce...Chinese less, which makes this a bit more unusual. If you're an Asian peanut sauce fan, you have to try this.

Salad
1 package (8 oz) fine egg noodles
2 t. vegetable oil
1 bunch broccoli (c. 1 ½ lb) or 2 packages (10 oz each) of frozen broccoli spears, thawed
2 c. (½ lb) roast pork, cut into thin strips
4 c. (8 oz) fresh bean sprouts
2 c. shredded Chinese cabbage (iceberg lettuce can do in a pinch)
1 c. slivered radishes

Sauce
¼ c. creamy peanut butter
¼ c. warm water
¼ c. chopped green onions
2 garlic cloves, crushed
¼ c. soy sauce
¼ c. peanut oil (vegetable oil okay)
2 T wine vinegar
4 T sugar
1 t. salt
½ t. cayenne pepper

Cook egg noodles. Drain, rinse, drain again. Place in bowl, toss with 2 t. oil. Cover and refrigerate 2 hours. Trim enough stalk from broccoli so you have about 2” of flowerettes and stalk remaining. In saucepan heat, 1 quart of water to boiling. Add broccoli and return to boil. Cook 3 minutes, drain and cool under cold water. Cover and refrigerate. (NOTE: If using frozen broccoli, thaw, drain, don’t cook.) Prepare remaining salad ingredients and wrap each separately for the moment.

Now for the sauce. In a small bowl, combine peanut butter and water until smooth. Add remaining ingredients. Stir until well mixed. Pour in a small bowl and store at room temperature.

To serve, add broccoli, roast pork, sprouts, Chinese cabbage and radishes to noodles. Add sauce and toss lightly.

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