Chef notes

No doubt you’ve had some version of this dish at a Chinese or Thai restaurant. The origin of peanut noodles isn’t entirely clear, but the Chinese version hails from the Shaxian District, in the coastal province of Fujian.

Peanut noodles were popularized by a chain of restaurants called Shaxian Snacks, which has over 88,000 shops, giving it a larger footprint than McDonald’s or any other fast food chain in China.

The popularity of peanut noodles isn’t surprising. With a savory sauce made with affordable, yet flavorful ingredients and a short prep time, the dish is delicious and approachable. You can easily make this dish at home — no plane ticket required.

There are many variations of the sauce, but it always starts with peanut butter, soy sauce, vinegar and either chili oil or chili paste. Garnishes usually include scallions and a Chinese vegetable called choy sum, which is similar in appearance to broccoli rabe, but is much less bitter. In my version, I’ve used shredded red cabbage and carrots for convenience and to add color to the beige noodles.

You can play around with the heat level of the sauce, depending on your taste preferences. Add additional chili crisp or chili paste to bump up the heat. However you like your noodles, this is a great dish to keep in your back pocket for busy weeknights or anytime you want a flavorful, filling meal.

Technique Tip: Don’t skip covering the baking dish with foil. This prevents the chicken from browning. Light colored pieces of chicken are preferable for this type of noodle dish. If you don’t have time to cook the chicken, you can buy a rotisserie chicken, remove the skin and shred it into bite-sized pieces.

Swap Option: Instead of chicken, you could also use shrimp, tofu or flank steak as the protein in this recipe.

Ingredients

Chicken

1 to 1¼ pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 teaspoons olive oil

1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

Noodles

1 pound udon or soba noodles
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
2 limes, juiced
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon chili crisp or chili paste

1/4 cup water
3 cups shredded red cabbage
1½ cups shredded carrots
2 Persian cucumbers, thinly sliced
1/2 cup sliced scallions
1 cup fresh cilantro leaves
1/4 cup dry roasted, unsalted peanuts, roughly chopped

Fulfilled by

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Arrange a rack in the middle of the oven.

Place the chicken on a cutting board and cover with plastic wrap. Using a mallet or potato masher, pound the chicken until it’s 1/2-inch thick. Place chicken in a baking dish, drizzle with the olive oil and sprinkle with the salt. Cover the dish with foil and bake chicken for 20 to 25 minutes, until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the meat reaches 165 F. Remove from the oven and cool.

In a large bowl, whisk together the peanut butter, hoisin sauce, lime juice, vinegar, soy sauce, chili crisp and water Reserve 1/4 cup of the dressing and set aside.

Bring a large pot of water to boil. Cook the noodles according to package directions. Drain and set aside. Place the cooked noodles in a serving bowl and add half of the dressing. Use tongs to toss. Add the remaining dressing and toss again until fully coated.

Use clean hands to pull the cooled chicken into bite-sized pieces.

If serving immediately, divide the noodles among 6 bowls and top with the chicken, cabbage, carrots, cucumber, scallions, cilantro and chopped peanuts. If serving later, you can either refrigerate the noodles separately from the other ingredients, or toss it all together, cover and refrigerate. Either way, drizzle with the reserved dressing just before eating.