If you follow me on twitter, you will probably be sick of me talking about it, but we (Industry) are currently on tour with JLS for their tour dates in Ireland. It makes a stark contrast to all the cooking I have been doing lately! The one question I have been asked the most since the book came out is which I prefer, the singing or the cooking, and to be honest after Saturday night, when we performed in Dublin's o2 arena, the singing gives the cooking a good run for its money! Though I think I will always have that hunger for performing on stage, it is just one of the most amazing feelings to stand in front of a crowd that size and sing! All the excitement and nerves aside, I have been managing to eat really well despite the lack of time, and these noodles are just one of the dishes which have kept the band well fed the last few days.
Crunchy Peanut Satay Noodles
I am a huge fan of Asian flavours, and I absolutely love exploring Asian supermarkets to find new weird and wonderful ingredients. Noodles are one of my favourite things to buy there, and there are so many varieties to choose from thin rice vermicelli to the thick chunky udon noodles I use in this dish. You can use whatever noodles you can get your hands on for this recipe, and don't be afraid to experiment with the veggies, just use what you have, Chinese cabbage, carrot, or bok choy all work really nicely here. The beauty of this recipe is that it is just basically combining all these fantastic flavours with noodles and fresh veg which gives it that extra crunch factor!
Serves 2
400g of udon noodles
1/2 cucumber, sliced thinly
1 red pepper, sliced thinly
5 spring onions, sliced finely diagonally
A handful of salted peanuts, roughly chopped
For the peanut sauce:
1 tablespoon of sunflower oil
1 clove of garlic, finely minced
1 small thumb sized piece of ginger, finely minced
1 small chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
200ml coconut milk
3 tablespoons of soy sauce
Juice of 1 lime
3 tablespoons of crunchy peanut butter
Cook the noodles according to the instructions on the pack, rinse under cold water, drain and set aside.
Heat the oil in a small sauce pot, add the garlic, chilli and ginger and fry for about 30-40 seconds stirring continuously.
Add in the coconut milk, lime juice, peanut butter and soy sauce. Bring to the boil, stirring to melt the peanut butter, then reduce the heat and simmer for 2-3 minutes.
Add the cooked noodles to a large mixing bowl and add in the spring onions, red pepper, and cucumber. Pour in the peanut sauce and toss all the ingredients together until combined.
Serve with a sprinkle of chopped peanuts and some extra sliced spring onion.
