A meal-sized salad that is spicy, savory, tangy and aromatic with chewy noodles and crunchy vegetables.

Cold Peanut Noodle Salad

Serves 2

While my first foray into the realm of peanut noodles (here) at home was developed specifically for cooler weather and meant to be rich, and creamy, this salad is just the opposite. While it maintains its creaminess, the dressing is tangy and includes ginger, chilis and gochugaru for a kick of spice well suited to the chilled noodles. Thin wheat noodles called somyeon are used rather than thick ones and are countered by at least 3x more vegetables to noodle all julienned thinly to easily merge once mixed. This is a super hearty meal sized salad that only requires 10 - 15 minutes of work depending on how your veg is cut and while perfect for serving as the heat of summer begins to wane, I’d be just as happy with a huge bowl in front of a fire during the winter.

Ingredients

Dressing

74g (5 T) crunchy peanut butter

20g (2 t) doenjang

10g (2 t) ginger, grated

2 – 4 garlic cloves, grated

1 cheongyang or serrano chili, thinly sliced

2g (0.50 t) granulated sugar

2g (0.50 t) gochugaru

1g (0.25 t) kosher salt

*15ml (1 T) black vinegar

45ml (3 T) soy sauce

**30ml (2 T) sesame oil 

Salad

200g somyeon or other thin wheat flour noodle

300g (2 c) cucumber, thin julienne

200g (3 c) cabbage, sliced thinly

200g (1 c) carrot, thin julienne

***150g (0.50 c) bell pepper, thin julienne

80g (0.50 c) celery, sliced thinly on a bias 

Garnish

40g (2) scallions, sliced thinly on a bias

Black sesame seeds

Method

1.      Place a medium sized pot of water on to boil.

2.      In a small bowl, combine the dressing ingredients except the oil and soy sauce, stirring until smooth.

Start with 2 garlic cloves to begin with as grated garlic is more strongly flavored. Add more later if desired.

I suggest combining the ingredients this way to ensure that the thick peanut butter and doenjang are thinned and well combined before adding too much liquid, however, you don’t have to do this you can simply stir until well combined.

• Add the soy sauce and oil stirring until well combined.

• Taste and adjust as desired.

The dressing should be just a little salty as in addition to the noodles, it also seasons the vegetables.

3.      Place the noodles into the boiling water and cook according to package directions.

• Before draining, add 50ml (0.25 c) of the noodle boiling water to the dressing stirring well to combine.

If you forget and drain the noodles, add an equal amount of boiling water to the dressing.

This step is important as the heat of the water helps to activate the flavors in the dressing while also thinning it to better coat your salad.

• Drain the noodles running them under cold water until completely cooled.

• Shake out the noodles well and gently squeeze to remove as much water as possible.

Squeezing out the noodles is important. If you do not, they will retain too much water thus making your final dish watery.

4.      Arrange the noodles and vegetables on two large plates topping with the garnishes and passing the dressing at the table.

Alternatively, toss the noodles, vegetables and dressing in a large mixing bowl before dividing between two plates and topping with the garnishes.

5.      Serve.