Thursday, November 5, 2009

Peanut Vermicelli

Peanut VermicelliI once worked beside a little-known, but top-notch take-out café called The Five Senses. Many times a week, I'd wander over at noon to see what the chef was cooking in his kitchen. Even though he worked the kitchen alone, he was able to create delicious food, but he was often stressed and voiced his frustration at being "in the weeds" to his customers (which wasn't good for business).



The one thing I ordered anytime it was on the lunch menu was this Peanut Vermicelli. I'd buy extra at noon just to take it home to have for supper. One day, I boldly asked him for the recipe, which he scribbled on a scrap piece of paper for me, without measurements for some of the ingredients.

Peanut Vermicelli RecipeAfter some tweaking, I've come up with the quantities that I like. It remains a favorite side dish or even a main dish when I add cooked chicken.

Recipe

Serves 8

For the Sauce:
1 cup peanut butter (chunky or smooth)
1 (14-ounce or 398 mL) can coconut milk
1 teaspoon curry powder
½ tablespoon fresh gingerroot, minced
4 cloves fresh garlic, minced
1 teaspoon lemon juice
3 tablespoons soya sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil

1 16-ounce package dried rice vermicelli
Peanuts for garnish

To Prepare and Eat Now:

Heat all sauce ingredients on medium heat until blended and warm.

Follow package directions to cook dried rice vermicelli.

Mix the sauce with the cooked rice vermicelli. Serve hot or cold.

To Freeze:

Cool the sauce ingredients and freeze in a container or food storage bag. (Cook the dried rice vermicelli just before serving.) Recommended freezing time: 6-12 months.

To Prepare After Freezing:

Thaw overnight in the refrigerator. Follow package directions to cook dried rice vermicelli.

Tip:
To save time, use bottled minced garlic and ginger. To save money, mince your own garlic and ginger.

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  • 33 comments:

    Michele said...

    Wow! This looks amazing--I'm going to have to try it.

    Unknown said...

    I love thai noodles with peanuts! Thank you for reminding me about them.

    Julie @ Willow Bird Baking said...

    I LOVE the flavor of peanuts and noodles. Mmm. Does it almost have a Thai feel?

    Definitely bookmarking this! Thanks so much for sharing one of your favorites.

    Amanda said...

    How fun! Love the scribbled recipe :) Those are often the best kind :)

    Ria Mathew said...

    Yummm!

    Gera@SweetsFoodsBlog said...

    Both ingredients that I adore: peanut and vermicelli but incredibly I've never tasted all together!

    Shari a wonderful recipe that I need to try soon...especially after a strong training when I need lot of delicious pasta :)

    Cheers!

    Gera

    lisa is cooking said...

    That's so great that he gave you the recipe! Sounds delicious and quick to prepare too.

    Inspired by eRecipeCards said...

    this looks really good... gonna give this a try thanks for the post

    Hilary said...

    These look soooo good. Definitely one to bookmark for me - thanks!

    Malak said...

    I like the sound of this one! Thanks for doing all the tweaking for us! I am definitely trying it. Love the reflection of the noodles in the spoon!

    Muse in the Kitchen said...

    This looks so good! We really like vermicelli around here, and a peanut sauce sounds delicious with it. ~ Belle

    Jillian said...

    that looks amazing! I will have to try this one for sure.

    Anonymous said...

    Sounds delicious!

    Mel said...

    I miss Five Senses - delicious food, if you could get past all the stress. I'll have to try this recipe!

    candy buffets said...

    mmmmmmm, now i'm really hungry!!

    Lo said...

    oooh. This looks like a dish I'd really enjoy.

    Great story. Bet this is the perfect recipe for making when one is feeling "in the weeds"... quick, easy and delicious! :)

    thecoffeesnob said...

    I've never had peanuts with noodles but this sounds delicious!

    steph- whisk/spoon said...

    mmm-yum! thanks for passing the recipe along!

    Anonymous said...

    Yummmmm!! I love the way this sounds! It sounds Thai-ish to me too. Coconut milk, peanuts, rice noodles...it almost sounds like pad thai! Oh, I'm afraid you've tickled the Thai button...oh my. Got to have Tom Kha Gai! LOL!

    pigpigscorner said...

    I am making this SOON!

    Coffee and Vanilla said...

    Shari,
    That is great recipe. Love nuts in my pasta :)

    Birmingham Catering said...

    looks yummy! thanks for sharing..

    Lynda said...

    That is a great picture. It looks very tasty. It reminds me of eating vermicelli noodles at a beach side restaurant when I was in Thailand.

    angela@spinachtiger said...

    Hi Shari
    I love the idea of this dish and one I most surely want to make. It reminds me of pad thai in a sense, and that is doug's favorite.

    forumsglobe said...

    i like his food.....

    thanks

    Jake said...

    I love thai noodles and the peanuts with look good!

    Little Rock Catering said...

    Sounds yummy! I really loved peanuts...

    college degree online said...

    this one looks delicious
    gonna give it a try soon
    thanks for sharing this to everyone/...

    Lea @ LittleRockWeddings said...

    Peanut with thai noodles? This sounds yummy hah...
    Arkansas Wedding

    LyB said...

    That would be one of my favorite dishes too! This is going on my "make now!" list. Thanks for sharing the recipe, with all the ingredients and quantities. ;)

    KatrinkaDee said...

    I made this for dinner for my parents tonight and it was a big hit! My dad called it "peanut curry sauce" which I think is the best way to describe it. It's so creamy and naturally sweet, it's perfect. I did add a little hot sauce to it, since my family loves spicy food, but other than that it's perfect as is: no need to tweak this one. Fabulous!

    20 LA Wannabe said...

    do you use natural peanut butter or regular?

    Shari@Whisk: a food blog said...

    I use regular, but I'm sure natural would be good too. If you like the taste of natural, that would work too.

    ~Shari