Recipe by Illanique van Aswegen
Asian noodle salad with peanut dressing
Ingredients
Dressing
- 100g salted peanuts
- 5ml (1 tsp) garlic, crushed
- 5ml (1 tsp) fresh ginger, finely grated
- 5ml (1 tsp) Chinese five spice
- 1 x 400ml tin coconut cream
- 30ml (2 tbsp) sweet chilli sauce
- 5ml (1 tsp) soya sauce
- 30ml (2 tbsp) fresh coriander, finely chopped
- salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Salad
- 250g egg noodles
- 30ml (2 tbsp) peanut oil
- 1 (150g) baby red cabbage, shredded
- 120g baby corn, roughly chopped
- 150g sugar snap peas, chopped
- 1 red pepper, thinly sliced
- 80g baby spinach/bok choi
- 125g frozen peas, blanched
- 30ml (2 tbsp) sesame seeds
- large handful onion sprouts
- handful pea shoots (optional)
Instructions
For the dressing, place the peanuts, garlic, ginger and five spice in a pestle and mortar and grind until fine. Add to a saucepan over medium heat along with the coconut cream, sweet chilli and soya sauces, and cook gently, 5 minutes. Stir in the coriander and season to taste. Remove from heat and set aside to cool. If the dressing needs to be thinned out after cooling, simply add a tiny splash of milk or water.
For the salad, cook the egg noodles in salted boiling water, 2 – 3 minutes (or according to the instructions on the packet). Strain and drizzle a little peanut oil over the noodles to prevent them from sticking together while cooling.
Heat a wok or large frying pan over medium heat and add the remaining peanut oil. Add the cabbage and fry, 1 minute. Stir in the corn, sugar snaps and red pepper and fry for another minute. Add the spinach or bok choi, cooked peas and sesame seeds and lightly fry until the spinach or bok choi has wilted. Season to taste and allow to cool.
To assemble the salad, pour a little dressing into each jar. Add some noodles then top with the cooked veggies. Lastly add the sprouts and pea shoots, if desired.
Notes
If you’re pressed for time, substitute the salad ingredients with a good-quality, ready-cut fresh stir-fry veggie mix and simply fry that off.
