Peanut Noodles with Chicken as seen on Valerie's Home Cooking, Season 14.
Recipe courtesy of Valerie Bertinelli

Peanut Noodles with Chicken

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  • Level: Easy
  • Total: 1 hr 30 min
  • Active: 55 min
  • Yield: 6 to 8 servings
This noodle dish is packed with so much flavor! The peanut sauce is sweet and slightly spicy. It's made with ingredients commonly used in West African peanut sauce, but also includes soy sauce and rice vinegar. When mixed with pasta water the sauce thins out and coats the noodles beautifully. I like to serve this dish warm, but it’s also great cold or room temperature.

Ingredients

Peanut Sauce:

Noodles:

Directions

Special equipment:
an immersion blender
  1. For the sauce: Heat the vegetable oil in a large saucepan. Add the onion, carrot, celery, jalapeño, ginger, garlic, cumin and a pinch of salt. Stir to combine. Cook until the vegetables are slightly softened, about 5 minutes. Add the tomato paste and stir to evenly coat the vegetables in the tomato paste. Add the peanut butter and stir to combine. As the peanut butter heats up it will melt into the sauce. Add the vinegar, soy sauce and chicken broth. Bring the mixture to a boil, then cover and turn the heat down to low; simmer for 10 minutes. Turn the heat off and let cool slightly. Use an immersion blender to blend the sauce until completely smooth. Set aside until ready to use.
  2. To make the noodles: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta to al dente and reserve 1 cup pasta water before draining.
  3. Heat a large pan over medium-high heat. Add the vegetable oil and swirl to coat the pan. Once the oil is shimmering, add the chicken and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is no longer pink, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the cabbage, onion, bell pepper and cilantro stems. Add 1/4 cup pasta water to deglaze the pan. Add the ginger, garlic and salt and pepper to taste. Cook until the vegetables are slightly softened, 5 to 6 minutes. Stir in the sambal.
  4. Add the noodles to the pan with the vegetables along with 1/2 cup pasta water and 2 cups peanut sauce. Stir to coat the noodles in the sauce. Turn the heat off. Garnish with the cilantro leaves, chopped peanuts and sesame seeds.