Is there anything more inspiring than a farmer’s market at the height of the summer, piled high with funky heirloom tomatoes, eggplants from fairytale to freakishly large, crinkly peppers, bi-color corn as far as the eye can see and stone fruits in every color of the rainbow? Wouldn’t this be a great time to cook with all of them? Isn’t it almost a moral imperative to fill our systems with as much of summer as we can before it passes and we spend the rest of the seasons pining for its return? Probably, I mean, yes, of course. But cravings are cravings, and what I’ve really been dreaming about is so-called Chinese food, like, the terrible stuff that comes unceremoniously in white boxes with an embarrassment of chopsticks (because they thought you were ordering for a dozen people, and not just the three of you). I’ve long accepted that if I don’t at least occasionally indulge cravings, they’re never going to pass.
The irony of craving unfancy takeout in a sleep-deprived, no-energy-for-cooking period of time that would normally be full of it is not lost on me. If a combination of a few freezer meals plus grandma deliveries of everything from soup to lasagna to pelmeni and vareniki weren’t ensuring that we’d never have to order in, I’d probably never want to see a Seamless.com order screen by now. But cold sesame noodles have long been one of my desert island dishes, and at least once or twice a year, nothing else is going to cut it.
My complaint with them is that they can feel quite heavy, especially if you’re using a thick sauce on Chinese egg noodles as the base that most restaurants do. As it’s still 90-plus muggy degrees almost everyday, I’ve been obsessed with finding a way to lighten them up for summer. I started by using rice noodles instead, and updated my usual peanut butter-heavy sauce with something thinner in coating and punchier in flavor, with everything from rice vinegar, ginger and chile-garlic paste giving it a lift, using a recipe from Ed Schoenfeld of the awesome Red Farm restaurants and late Chinatown Brasserie as guidance. And then, I just used less of it. Rather than trying to weave threads of julienned vegetables through the noodles, as I have in the past, I nested a medium-sized knot of dressed noodles into the bottom of the bowl, piled half of it with wafer-thin slices of cold (seasonal! local! See? I tried.) cucumber, then showered the whole thing with chopped roasted salted peanuts and a fistful of chopped cilantro, parsley and mint from my garden.
Do I need to tell you what an easy and delicious summer lunch or dinner this can be? How friendly it might be to my too tired or unmotivated to cook brethren, because you can make the sauce, comprised mostly of pantry ingredients, whenever you find 10 minutes of free time and keep it until needed, the noodles are supposed to be cold, and your cucumbers will stay crisp as long as you need them to? No, I do not. But I’ve never let that stop me before, either.
Cold noodles, previously: Apparently, it’s a warm-weather theme at the Smitten Kitchen. Cold Noodles with Miso, Lime and Ginger, Cold Noodles with Peanut-Lime Chicken, Spicy Soba Noodles with Shiitakes, Cellophane Noodle Salad with Roast Pork and my 2008 recipe for Peanut Sesame Noodles (but I like this one better these days)
One year ago: Grilled Peach Splits + News!
Two years ago: Hot Fudge Sundae Cake and Mama Canales-Garcia’s Avocado Shrimp Salsa
Three years ago: Zucchini Bread Pancakes (still a favorite) and Zucchini Rice Gratin
Four years ago: Charred Corn Tacos with Zucchini-Radish Slaw
Five years ago: Scalloped Tomatoes with Croutons (we will be making it this week!)
Six years ago: Best Birthday Cake and Arugula Potato and Green Bean Salad
Seven years ago: Salad Olivier and Sauteed Radishes with Sugar Snaps and Dill
Eight years ago: Roseanne Cash’s Potato Salad and Quick Potato Pierogi
And for the other side of the world:
Six Months Ago: Key Lime Pie
1.5 Years Ago: Pear and Hazelnut Muffins
2.5 Years Ago: Buttermilk Roast Chicken
3.5 Years Ago: Intensely Chocolate Sables
Takeout-Style Sesame Noodles with Cucumber
Sauce adapted from Ed Schoenfeld, via Sam Sifton
Cold sesame noodles, lightened up for summer. I used wide, flat rice noodles (often sold as rice “sticks” typically used for pad Thai here, but 1/8-inch thick Chinese egg noodles, sold frozen or fresh at Asian markets, are more takeout traditional (but not gluten-free). Chinese sesame paste is made with toasted sesame seeds, while Middle Eastern tahini is usually made with plain, untoasted seeds. I used tahini, because it’s what I had on hand, and it works just fine. You can add an extra splash of toasted sesame oil to compensate for any lost toasted sesame flavor, if you wish. Peanut allergies? Just use sesame seed paste entirely here, and toasted sesame seeds for garnish. The flavor will be slightly different, but no less delicious. 2 teaspoons chile-garlic paste is the original recommendation but we just dotted it on the grown-up bowls, so not to scare the heat-averse 5 year-old. Note: while soy sauces are naturally gluten-free, some are brewed using trace amounts of wheat, and if you are gluten-free, it’s best to look for a clear gluten-free label before buying one.
Serves 4, generously, and up to double that if served as shown, with lots of cucumber, peanuts and herbs
3/4 pound dried rice noodles (see notes up top)
2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil, plus a splash to loosen noodles
2 tablespoons Chinese sesame paste or tahini (see note up top)
1 tablespoon smooth peanut butter
3 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons Chinese rice vinegar
1 tablespoon granulated or brown sugar
1 tablespoon finely grated ginger
2 teaspoons minced garlic (from 1 medium-large clove)
Chili-garlic paste, to taste
1/2 pound cucumber, very thinly sliced
1/2 cup roasted salted peanuts, roughly chopped
A handful of chopped fresh herbs, such as mint and cilantro, for garnish
Cook noodles according to package directions and rinse with cold water to cool. Drain well. Drizzle with a tiny splash of toasted sesame oil to keep them from sticking until dressed.
Meanwhile, whisk sesame paste and peanut butter in the bottom of a small bowl, then whisk in soy sauce, rice vinegar, remaining 2 tablespoons sesame oil, sugar, ginger, garlic and chile-garlic paste to taste until smooth. Adjust flavors to taste. It might seem a bit salty from the bowl, but should be just right when tossed with noodles.
Toss sauce with cold noodles.
Place a medium-sized knot of dressed noodles in each bowl, followed by a pile of cucumber. Garnish generously with peanuts and herbs. Serve with extra chile-garlic paste on the side.
Oh goody! The hunt for the baby picture game is back. She is adorable, and the noodles look pretty good too.
I don’t know which is yummier – the picture of your gorgeous Anna or the sesame noodle dish! I have everything for the noodles so will be making that shortly. Hope things are settling in with that delectable baby girl!
I was wondering about the measurement for the rice noodles. Is it 3/4 lb dry or 3/4 lb cooked noodles?
I bet you could add more veggies with one of those veggie spiral noodle maker things, lol. This looks so delicious!!
This recipe is amazing! I’m definitely going to try this for dinner one evening, seems so easy yet fresh and healthy with the cucumbers. x
Rice noodle has unique texture and i love that!
This looks great! Quick question – when you say smooth peanut butter do you mean natural (unsweetened) or more like Skippy/Jif sweetened stuff? Thanks, Deb!
I was planning on making sesame noodles this week, and I happen to have leftover Chinese cucumber salad on hand. Great minds think/cook alike? :)
This looks delicious and all, but the first thing I did was look for the baby picture. She has the most beautiful hair!
This looks amazing.
NoOdLeS! Yummy! This looks amazing in every way. I could really go for some noodles right now. And preparing them asian style is so perfect and cooling for summertime. So glad you were inspired by the farmer’s market! I finally live in a city where there are a bunch of farmer’s markets to choose from, and it makes me oh so happy. I really want to make this now :)
I made something similar (by winging it – so it was good but not awesome) with soba noodles since my almost 3 year old loves “black spaghetti.” Will try this again with your dressings…but since I’m 6 months pregnant and heartburn sizzles my innards about 18 hours a day, I’ll also be eating the 5 year old chili free version!
Fine work on the baby making. She’s perfect. Congrats to big brother.
Will try the noodles. Look super tasty.
Making these for dinner– thanks for the note on tahini, it will make things so much easier! Anna has such light hair and looks precious! Also I think you meant “desert island” rather than dessert island, in which case I would request black sesame dumplings!
This looks super yummy! Quick edit- there’s something funky going on with the second sentence under the photo of sliced cucumbers. I’ll go ahead and blame the baby :)
I just learned about sesame oil and it’s amazing! And the peanut butter in this recipe is awesome too, can’t wait to sample. Isn’t it crazy how tired you are after having a baby, and I didn’t even have a baby ~ my wife did. But I’m still tired even though she was the one who always got up to nurse. It’s terribly was lack of sleep does to you isn’t it!!! You’ll get through it though and baby is worth it =)
This looks so incredibly delicious! We must eat this soon!
Libby — I use/used Skippy, as does Schoenfeld. From the article: “If you’re using a natural peanut butter, you’re already complicating matters. As Schoenfeld says, “It’s all about the Skippy, baby.”” That said, I’m sure whatever you have on hand will be good enough.
Maddy — Dry. Will note.
Sarah M. — Ha! Thanks, fixed now.
Kate — Hm, I’m not sure I see it? Grr.
Tom — This.
THANK YOU. I have been battling a horrible spate of wanting nothing to do with the kitchen, yet still loading up my tote with produce from the farmer’s market each weekend because I can’t bear to not at least have some of that pined-for-all-year-long produce in my fridge. I won’t even begin to admit how much I’ve spent on macro plates at Souen this summer, because I JUST DON’T WANT TO COOK. But one of the tastiest meals I’ve eaten recently is a simplest ever plate of sesame noodles from Joe’s Shanghai up in Flushing. I could hug and kiss you for inspiring me to make an even better version (and to use up that lone cucumber in my fridge.) You’re the best.
This looks like EXACTLY what I want to be eating. I don’t have a newborn, but I’m so uninspired right now, which is lame considering it’s summer.
Kate’s referring to this sentence –
If a combination a few freezer meals plus deliveries of everything from soup to lasagna to Seamless.com order screen by now.
Now I know what to do with the cucumber that had hidden in the garden until it got HUGE!
I don’t know what this says about me but these days I scan your posts not for cooking inspiration but for baby pictures. So thank you to commenters 1 and 2 for alerting me that there was, indeed, a photo available. And a predictably adorable one, too. Yay!
amanda — I think it’s pretty normal for the summer. And the summer makes it easier to get away with it because there’s so much fresh produce that barely needs to be cooked. I say enjoy it. :)
Sally, Kate — Ah, thanks for bearing with me because as you all probably know, I rarely sleep in more than 2 hour stretches these days. I think it makes more sense now?
Thanks for sharing this recipe! It sounds so good. Can’t wait to try it!
Hi! Congrats on the kid. This recipe looks great; I’ll have to try it with my garden’s cucumber overload soon — I’ve made two double batches of your delicious cucumber lemonade and countless cucumber soups but the crisper drawer is still almost too heavy to open.
And speaking of summer surplus, the zucchini bread pancakes have become a favorite in this household too. And the zucchini bread, and the zucchini fritters, and DEAR GOD how is there another 3lb zucchini to harvest??? Good excuse to work my way through your archive — I love your brave attempts to vanquish the spoils of the season.
Now, if you have any ideas for managing a bumper crop of Carola potatoes in high August fashion… delicious variety, a tad too dry for potato salad but good for almost anything else…
Summer always makes me feel, surprisingly, BLAH about eating. All the fruits and veg look so amazing, but when it comes to putting them together into a whole meal of food? Meh. BUT sesame noodles (similar to your 2008 version!) are one of our go-tos on summer evenings!
Treats (aka desert island food) always a must. I make a similar dish that uses soba–sometimes cha soba. And for the dressing, we use soynut butter or sunbutter (nut allergies) and lots of cilantro. I find that these “nutty” noodle sauces get thicker over time, so I often thin with a little water to lighten them up. Thank you for sharing your latest version!
This looks amazing! I’m going to try my luck with almond butter :D
Now I am craving chinese food, too! I will have to try this.
Oh what an adorable baby girl!! Go kiss her cheeks now, quick :D
Sorry, this is what having 3 kids does to you.
Now I’ll read the sesame noodles part. I actually had those once in a Vietnamese restaurant (or s.th. very like it) and they were great. Another recipe to bookmark…
How funny! I just made some lovely Asian takeout inspired noodles, but I used soba noodles and an almond sauce because I was out of tahini and am allergic to peanuts (a recent allergy- who knew you could develop them at 23! Craziness and heartbreaking- no more Reese’s peanut butter cups for me!). This looks glorious and I’ll have to make this one soon! Congratulations on the new addition to your family, by the way, she is lovely :)
Suggestion for those of us w/peanut allergies in the household? That other butter would you substitute? Thanks
This looks so good :).
At our house we refer to those white takeout boxes with the wire handles as “turtle boxes” because back in the 1960’s they were used to package little pet turtles sold at the old five and dime stores. Our take is the boxes weren’t good for the turtles and any food put in them suffers equally!
This is delicious even though I made it on a freezing Melbourne morning!
deb, have you come around to cilantro?!
Deb! Next time you’re in Boston, please track down one of the Bon Me food trucks and get one of their cold noodle salads (examples here: http://www.bonmetruck.com/gallery/). I am completely and utterly addicted to it. Especially the rice noodle + vietnamese vinaigrett + roasted soy and paprika tofu.
Your daughter is absolutely adorable. I miss those days (minus the spit-up and lack of sleep!)
Hello from Brooklyn! Your site is the go-to recipe book in our house – for both adult meals and those of our toddler (various strata, zucchini gratin, and your carrot cake which i made into the shape of an Elmo for his recent second birthday, being his favorites). I bought your wonderful book and use this site weekly, but am finally compelled to comment by the fact that you have posted twice since recently having a newborn, and continued despite pregnancy-lack-of-appetite. Thanks for all the wonderful recipes!
First of all. Your children. Are. Just. Too. Adorable. Really. :)
Second of all I can’t wait to make this because it’s all I want now that I’ve seen it
Third of all would you consider also listing it in your lunch section and the quick section? I would definitely make this for lunch, or a quick dinner!
Best to you and your family!!!
I hope we keep getting photos of Jacob as well! The adoring public demand photos of them both!!
I love this idea, Deb! A light and refreshing Chinese dish…the closest thing I can think of to that concept is chinese chicken salad, which is just so sad lol. But that’s why I have you and your inspirational recipes that make me think outside the box. Thanks so much for sharing this recipe – I’m really excited to try it out :)
Having a newborn is SO HARD. I think I actually started to believe I would never, ever sleep again. I can’t believe you even managed to make those tomato sandwiches recently, let alone this bowl of deliciousness. You are awesome, and Anna is a beautiful baby! (And does she have blonde hair?!)
Yum!!! and love that baby for us!
Deb, I discovered Cold Noodles with Sesame Sauce as a freshman at Columbia University in 1988, and have craved it ever since. Feeling nostalgic seeing the your recipe, and so excited to try it.
This is exactly what I was dreaming of. I’m only sorry I just got back from the grocery store with ingredients for today’s lunch… otherwise this would be on my menu for sure. Good thing tomorrow is another day!
Yes! I love the hunt for baby picture game too!
I’ve had my eye on these noodles for a while and they had totally slipped my mind, thanks for catapulting them to the top of my must-cook-immediately-when-back-from-holiday-list! After an all butter, cream, butter, wine, butter, cheese, butter, baguette, butter, red wine, butter, white wine, butter, escargots, we’ll need a quick Asian takeout fix. Though I am not complaining, on the contrary: Did I mention butter?
Adorable picture of Anna. Bonne journée, Nicole
Just re-read the notes and got my answer. Oops.
“Peanut allergies? Just use sesame seed paste entirely here, and toasted sesame seeds for garnish. The flavor will be slightly different, but no less delicious.”
Looking forward to trying this!
I have made something similar with soba noodles that’s become a staple for summer BBQs as both adults and kids love it, but I must try your dressing as it does seem a bit lighter that I’d probably prefer. Love all the herbs on top too.
I’ve been reading (and cooking from) your blog for years, but was just diagnosed last month with celiac disease. I just want to thank you for having a gluten-free category in the recipe index and for always carefully noting how to keep a recipe gluten-free — it is much appreciated!
THANK YOU! I used to have a great recipe for cold sesame noodles and I lost it. I have been trying to recreate the magic with limited success. There are definitely going to be some in the coming week! I do love the Chinese egg noodles, but will give the rice noodles a try.
This looks amazing! I’m going to try my luck with almond butter :D Thanks for sharing this recipe! It sounds so good. Can’t wait to try it! :)
And for those with a sesame allergy? (One that I seriously hate, since it developed well into adulthood, and means that I have to monitor all Asian and Middle-eastern food.) Using all peanut butter would make it too sweet, I think. Anybody have a good replacement for tahini and/or sesame oil? I miss that nice toasty flavor they add. (FYI, I’ve tried various toasted nut oils, and they are all bland in comparison. The best sub I’ve found is adding a bit of defatted peanut powder.)
“Isn’t it almost a moral imperative to fill our systems with as much of summer as we can before it passes and we spend the rest of the seasons pining for its return?”
You have such a way with words <3
YUM noodles.
When I first moved to NYC Hua Yuan Szechuan on 2nd Avenue became my guilty pleasure- making a special trip on my way home to the various outer boroughs I moved to yearly after one year leases expired. When they closed there was a huge gastronomic hole in the city for quite a while. The NY Times published a recipe that purported to have Hua Yuan pedigree, but I will try this one for the lightness aspect you speak of. Still looking for the restaurant replacement, but this looks delicious, and very adjustable for taste.
Beautiful! Looks like she’s going to have a little lighter hair than her brother.
Enjoy the munchkin years while they last – they grow up too soon! I know everyone tells you this, but it’s so true.
yes, i selfishly also still want the jacob photos AND baby photos! ;)
also i loved your bit about the chopsticks – whenever we get sushi we always play the “how gluttonous are we being tonight” aka “how many people is this *supposed* to feed” game by counting the chopsticks sent. but no amount of chopstick shaming can stop me from eating my weight in sushi or noodles!
and thank god for that. these noodles look delicious, and have since i first saw them at 10am.
i must be doing something wrong — i never see pictures of the baby OR jacob! Do i need to become a loyalty member to get to see the good stuff? please upgrade me to SmittenKitchenLoyalist!
@Mary #61, there’s always a link in the post – here, it’s “period of time” in the second paragraph, but sometimes they’re hard to see (at least on my screen), so I click on one of the photos in the body of the post, which brings up the photo on flickr. From there, a click on “Back to photostream” will bring up the entire series of photos, and there he/she is.
Hi Mary, I was thinking the same thing but the word ‘hunt’ gave me the clue I needed. If you click on the words “period of time” in Deb’s second paragraph it will take you to some pictures. On my computer the words are barely a different shade – my excuse as to why I was so slow to realize. : ).
Thanks so much for the recipe Deb – it is going to be a side dish for our BBQ party tomorrow night with pulled pork the main event. I am astounded that you have started posting again already, I barely moved from the lazy boy for the first 3 weeks after baby #2 arrived. She is beautiful!!!
Maybe I’m just not reading it right, then? I just can’t make this sentence make sense in my brain: “If a combination of a few freezer meals plus grandma deliveries of everything from soup to lasagna to Seamless.com order screen by now.”
Like Cindy, I went for the baby pic first. Dagnabbit if that title didn’t make me kick my toes in the ground and say “dang.” Wish it said, “Up for grabs,” but I understand if you want to keep her. Much as I love chinese food, she looks more delicious. You must nibble her every chance you get. Congrats again!!
Do you think I could make this with Soba Noodles? I have some Soba I want to use up.
So, this sauce looks fine and all, Deb, but I’ve been putting noodles under the “sugar snap salad with miso dressing” from your book for years. Don’t tell me you haven’t tried that? It’s awesome! That salad + soba + chicken = our favorite lunch of all time, make it probably once a month.
Of course, I do appreciate that you’re giving us a more Chinese-inflected sauce now to go with that more Japanese-inflected one–and of course, I’ll be trying this ASAP.
Lisa — I’ve made it with them before; not a problem.
Kate — Oh no, you’re reading it right. It was a broken permalink around the Seamless.com gobbling a few words that would have made the sentence read correctly. I was checking the sentence from the internal UI so I didn’t see it was rendering incorrectly. I should sleep more or something! Now fixed, I hope.
Janae — Oh, it is still very hard. Like, they’re so tiny and cute and amazing but also there’s so much crying and not sleeping? Anyway, her hair is light brown almost blondish, and already curly. I was just SHOCKED when I saw it, as if I’d totally forgotten that my own husband has light brown hair and occasionally gets to contribute genetic characteristics to our offspring too.
Mel — Thanks, done and done.
Beth — Yum. I honestly cannot think of one great cold noodle dish I’ve had in NYC in the last few years. I’m probably not looking in the right places. Or I need to move to Boston (I mean, between that truck and Cutty’s alone…)
sfbeee — Maybe? It began while I was pregnant and basically a lot of food was ick but cilantro was less ick than usual? (I realized that when I made this.) I still don’t like a fistful of it straight, but I’m more tolerant of it in a blend of other things. Also, I’m growing it! Since I do sometimes need a tablespoon or more chopped and it’s annoying to buy a whole bundle for such a small amount, or to have some for my husband’s portion, as he loves it, although it’s coming along very slowly (see pot in 2nd photo) since I started from seed.
I am 5 months pregnant, it’s hot outside, and I didn’t even know this is EXACTLY what I was crazing until you posted it! It came together in a snap, and blew my mind with its sheer deliciousness! Thank you, Deb! My only changes were to use tamari instead of soy sauce (so I used a bit less – just over 2 tbsp as tamari is sooo salty), I thinned out the sauce with a bit of water, and added cold sliced chicken. Probably going to raid the fridge for some more right now…
I can’t help being curious – did you use a mandoline to cut the cucumber?
I am not a big fan of cold noodles although this dish looks pretty appetising for the warmer weather. Saving this recipe for summer!
Made this tonight with the peanut-free suggestions and with egg-noodle fettuccini (this one: http://www.dececcousa.com/Pasta/Nests/Egg-Fettuccine-103/?Product=19) because that’s what I could find. So yummy and perfect. Topped with Siracha sauce, again since that what I had. Thank you! (And Liz, I used a mandolin, and it was way faster than a knife would have been, but that’s because I don’t have knife skills).
Hi Deb I absolutely love you and your blog and follow it religiously! I was hoping you might have an idea for a special and boozy birthday cake for an 18th birthday (I’m in Australia so perfectly legal and almost mandatory!).
Thanks so much!
P. S congratulations on your baby your children are amazing!
I always wanted to like sesame noodles, but I just don’t like wheat pasta. I know weird, right? This recipe is genius; why didn’t I think of using rice noodles?! I made this last night and pickled the cucumbers for a few minutes, added some bean sprouts, thinly sliced radish and a squirt of lime juice. so good. thanks!
This looks amazing. I’ve been craving the Bun noodles I used to always order from the Vietnamese place near me in the Bay Area. I haven’t found a good replacement here in Scotland yet, but this would fix the craving, I think!
liz — Yes. And last night, we had an actual first cucumber from my garden to use and it was funky-shaped and the coins looked like splats. My son was delighted. (Yes, I know, you didn’t ask any of this.)
Gail — How about a red wine chocolate cake? In the Smitten Kitchen Cookbook, it’s actually a three-layer cake with a mascarpone filling.
Made this last night and it was perfect. The only addition I made was I added a tablespoon or so of fish sauce to my pile of bowl of chopped cucumber, mint, cilantro, serranos, and peanuts. Mixed that up and piled it on top of the sauced noodles. Soooooo good. Thanks for another fabulous recipe!
This was outstanding, as usual. My whole family loved it. Thanks for another home run!
Thanks for the soba tip. I made this tonight with soba and I added some grated carrots and green onions. It was so delicious! I also threw in a squeeze of sriracha. So yum and when I added up the calories it wasn’t too bad, under 500.
I made this for dinner last night—everyone loved it!
Omigosh, Deb! I’m eating these for the third meal in a row, voluntarily! They’re so good, and quick. Thank you! I added heirloom red pepper and avocado to mine today, and it’s pretty stellar.
Yumm!! I cannot wait to make this over the weekend!
Too much cuteness going on with that tiny hand in the photo!
Sigh, my husband doesn’t like cold meals – weirdo. Have to make this one for myself I guess. All for myself ;)
Comment 59, mary – you have to click on the linkzz! You’re welcome.
Yum I’m a big fan of cold noodles in the summer. I like adding some shredded chicken in mine too :)
I had bought a huge box of organic edamame noodles at Costco a while back and promptly forgot about them. I found them the other day and decided to use them with this sauce. They are really bizarre looking threads of green delicacy-breaking as I pulled them out of the package. The noodles cooked up quickly and thank goodness this is an assertive sauce as I’m not sure I would have liked the noodles with something simple like garlic and butter. They soaked up this sauce beautifully. But as I’m eating them I’m thinking…”mmm, sort of the texture of tofu skins….DUH!!!!” VERY yummy bowl. VERY yummy baby! Congrats Deb! Keep doing that thing you do, recipes, cute kids, we’re all here cheering you on!
I’ve been dying for something Asian…and here it is! Best part…gluten-free! I don’t even have to figure out any tricky GF substitutions! This is a keeper…will definitely try it soon… :)
I’m going to make these tonight; I’ll assuage my August CSA guilt by making zucchini noodles in lieu of rice noodles!
Gail – the red wine chocolate cake is delicious and very easy to make, it’s one of my favourite cakes on the site. But if it’s too sophisticated for an 18th birthday (!) try Deb’s car bomb Guinness and whisky cupcakes.http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2009/01/car-bomb-cupcakes/
We made these last night, and they were fantastic! We used coarsely grated carrots in lieu of peanuts, which worked quite well. Thanks for another weeknight keeper!
I made this last night for dinner! It is such a good dressing thanks for the recipe! I added chicken and some carrots for my kids to make it a little heartier. They loved it!
I made this last night- cause when you post a new recipe THAT’S what’s for dinner next ( I make exceptions for desserts) and we really enjoyed it. My husband thought the sauce was perfect I thought it could do with some more….brightness?
I see you reading these comments and actually responding so if you have a moment between staring/nuzzling/cooing at adorable Anna and taking care of Jacob: Do you think a splash of lime would work well? That was my only idea and I wondered if you, who actually knows her stuff, had a better one to try.
I love how this can be a “have in pantry/just buy a cucumber dish” for all the days when you are uninspired- it was simple yet delicious.
this was perfect! i made it last night, though i had raided my entire vegetable stash for the previous meal cooked this week. soooo…. no veggies (naughty!) but so much deliciousness. made it with some quick-sauteed chicken with chinese 5-spice blend and it made for a very speedy and tasty meal. can’t wait for lunch leftovers!
Cooking in the hinterlands of Montana, it can be a challenge to find “common” pantry ingredients, so I was more than pleasantly surprised when the grocery store in our closest town, population about 1,000, had both the rice sticks and the chili garlic sauce. I made this for dinner a couple nights ago and we both loved it. The dressing would go well on almost any salad. I subbed almond butter for the peanut butter and used chopped cashews in place of chopped peanuts. This will become regular item on our menu for hot summer days when real cooking and heating up the kitchen are not appealing options. Thanks for yet another tasty recipe.
I made this without tahini because I couldn’t find any. Just doubled up on peanut butter (used the natural kind) and was liberal with the sesame oil. It was delicious! Just required a little extra wisking to smooth out the sauce. Thanks for the recipe, it’s a new favorite!
How did you know this was exactly what I needed this weekend??
Gerley — I think lime would be delicious here. If you’d like a more lime-y cold noodle dish, you might like this or this one from previous summers.
This is so good – I’ve made it with different variations of noodles and veggies twice since you posted it. I’m thinking of making a big batch of the sauce to have on hand I love it so much. Do you think the sauce would keep well in the fridge? For how long? Thanks!!!
This looks great! I have a question – where do you buy this tahini?
I moved from Israel about 18 months ago and I cant find the exact tahini that you have in the photo.
This was one of my favorites back home!
Thanks!
Alex — It’s an obsession, isn’t it? A friend told me it was the best tahini “in the world” and that I’d never use that Joyva stuff again if I tried it. Are you in NYC? There’s a small store on St. Marks between 1st and 2nd called Holyland Market [link] that sells this and probably a lot of other foods that you miss. Not that I could read the bottle (there’s not a single word in English on it). Anyway, they pretty much always have it in stock.
How long will the sauce keep if making ahead?
Em — I’d expect it to keep for a week in the fridge.
I made this the same day you posted it (clearly the recipe had an effect!). I followed the no peanut version in the interest of not poisoning my allergic boyfriend. That sauce is FANTASTIC! I used soba noodles in the interest of keeping them whole grain, and I sauteed some fish to go with this (which I basted in a mixture of the soy and chili sauces). The next day I put the leftover dressing (I only made half the noodles) on a lazy salad of julienned cucumbers and carrots with some chicken. I wish I had made 3x the amount of sauce for fridge storage. Seriously, such a winner!
Yum, with the rice noodles, this sounds is so like the “dry” noodle bowl I get at the Vietnamese noodle restaurant. I shared the recipe with my DIL, in hopes that she will make it, lol. We would all love this.
Kids just love it and ask to make it again again I feel proud to make it thanks for the lovely recipe.
Inspired by your post and our love of noodles, I made your version of Cold Noodles with Peanut Lime Chicken. It was a huge hit and my family has already requested that I make it again. I served it just a bit differently so I thought I would share. I put all the veggies together in a bowl and added some of the dipping sauce and some of the peanut sauce and stirred well. I used all three herbs and used quite a bit of them so I mixed half with the veggies and half with the noodles. I also added a little bit of toasted sesame seed oil to the noodles to keep them from sticking, and a couple of extra scallions. To serve it I just put the noodles on a plate, added the veggies and chicken on top, added the sauces and garnished with peanuts. It was so good. Thank you for a terrific recipe!
Just made this for a light dinner! I only had lo mein noodles, I love their texture! And I only had a garlic/ginger paste that I use for Indian cooking, but used that and the sauce was absolutely delicious, also, didn’t have herbs or peanuts but topped with cold avocado and cashews. I’ll make this ALL the time!!!
oo this looks so good! some of my favorite flavors in there.
Awesome post, thanks Deb! It did make me think of a recipe request I’d love – pelmeni! I have a recipe but I’m betting yours is better. I have no Russian heritage myself, but I lived there ~10 years ago and I’ve been trying to recreate the amazing homemade pelmeni I had the pleasure of trying ever since. It’s definitely a labor intensive meal, but sometime in the future I would loooove some tips on pulling it off with American ingredients. Congrats on your daughter, she is wonderful :)
These look so gorgeous – making me hungry now :)
I’m making this and don’t have chili-garlic paste. I have Szechwan chili sauce, sriracha sauce and hot chili oil. Combination of all of them or which would be a good substitute?
I made this with an entire giant cucumber just for my bowl! It made it more like a cucumber salad with strands of nutty noodles tangled in. Also added some mandolined radishes. All from the the farmers market, which I think makes it totally acceptable as far as the Summer Produce Moral Imperative goes.
Also, I didn’t know that about soy sauce being essentially gluten free! Most soy sauce I see contains wheat, but I guess the fermentation/hydrolyzation process breaks down the gluten protein such that some people with gluten sensitivity won’t react?? Too bad it doesn’t help me much; soy allergy as well! I use Coconut Aminos to substitute for soy sauce. It’s not a perfect sub – it’s too sweet – but it’s much closer than anything else out there.
These were Spot. On. I’ve had such a hankering for peanut butter noodles, most intensely during Passover this year and made a big bowlful of them as soon as I could, rather than the traditional pizza. But they weren’t quite right. For years I’ve been trying to make them just so and haven’t yet nailed it. Until this recipe. Belle of the ball at the potluck we went to on Friday night. I have to admit I cut back on the sesame oil — I find it always to be a bit rude — and they were great. Just perfect.
Incidentally, those noodles from the Bon Me truck are great. I get frustrated by their sandwiches because they automatically come with pork pate so I have to be really careful when I order. And Cutty’s? Oh dear lord. They are about a block from the pediatrician’s so I intentionally book all the girls’ appointments at lunchtime. I mean, if I’m already in the area…I am not a meat person, and definitely not a roast beef person, but that sandwich. THAT sandwich. Possibly the best sandwich in Boston. That, or the fried cauliflower, broccoli rabe, provolone with pickled peppers at Strip T’s. It’s a tough call.
I liked thinking that you had a dessert island :’)
This looks great! The flavors all sound delish.
This was just what we needed. In fact, it was a double smitten night, with me making these noodles and my husband making a bee sting cake for my son’s two year old birthday party. Everything was delicious. Thank you for your terrific recipes, and congrats on your new addition.
Just whipped up the sauce to use as a salad dressing on a bowl of salad ingredients and some blanched veggies and it is delicious just used as a dressing. So fast to make and can’t wait to try it on noodles too. I only had crunchy peanut butter, but it did not seem to make a difference. Really good! Thanks!
Made it tonight for supper using Chinese egg noodles (wasn’t able to find rice sticks) and loved it. Husband was inexplicably unenthusiastic. Fine. I’ve got my lunch for tomorrow, already licking my chops.
Just made this other day and it came out great! I used Soba noodles and it was a big hit. Thanks so much for the recipes!
I discovered that you can approximate the Asian toasted sesame paste by gently heating tahini in a small skillet and mashing and stirring it until it darkens a little and gets fragrant. I was thinking of other sauces and curry pastes that get heated up this way and was happy to find that doing it for tahini worked really well.
Yum! Made this with almonds and almond butter, as it’s what I had on hand, then added some lemon and broiled steak. Perfect quick, cool dinner for the end of an August day :) Cheers to you, the hubs, and the kiddos – may there be longer blocks of sleep in the not-too-distant future!
I make a dish just like this recipe with Udon or soba. I julienne my cuke.
Noticed that the vinegar in your picture is Japanese vinegar:-)0
Ah, sweet, fresh, summertime ingredients! This will prepare me for those long, dark days of winter ahead…looks awesome!
The vinegar I see in the photo is not Chinese, it is Japanese…
Oh yum! These sound so delicious!
Yesterday we harvested our first cucumber and today my 15y old daughter made this for lunch. We all liked it and even prefered it to the Peanut Sesame Noodles recipe which has long been a family favorite!
I made these a few nights ago and they were great. I also fried up some tofu (in coconut oil, yum) to put on top (and because my daughter will eat them), which was a great addition.
I wish we could print the recipes from a print button- your format makes it hard to print. I can’t wait to try this…. looks amazing!!
jan — There’s a print button. At the bottom of each recipe before the comments begin, just click on the word “Print” to go to a simplified template.
Amazing dish, but make sure you don’t do what I did. Use CHILI sesame oil. I wasn’t paying close enough attention when grabbing pantry items. I wondered why my husband kept saying it was so tasty but hot, as I was cleaning up in the kitchen. I thought he was being sensitive as I only put a teaspoon of chili paste in it.
Wow. This was fantastic. I couldn’t find anything “toasted” but didn’t miss it. This will now be what my family eats for the rest of this week of +35 C temperatures. I added julienne’d carrots and a ton of cilantro. I want to toss in some green onions next time.
This looks so light and lovely, especially with the rice noodles! When my peanut sauce is too thick, I like to dilute with a dash of jasmine tea, which adds a subtle fragrance.
Tried this recipe today and It was FANTASTIC. I added some shrimp marinated in Sesame Oil and Sriracha. Will definitely do it again next week when I have family from UK. Thanks
Love your lightened up cold rice noodle recipe and all the variations…my kind of food. As someone with Celic Disease, I have to note that most Chinese-style soy sauces available at the grocery do have gluten in them and some more than trace amounts. Japanese tamari is gluten free and a good alternative to the Chinese style soy sauces. Even trace amounts of gluten are unhealthy for those with Celiac Disease.
We made these almost immediately after you posted them. Delicious and a great thing to make at the beginning of the week for lunches all week.
My only change would be to add some crispy tofu to the top! We also did a fried egg on top when we ate this at home. Delicious.
First of all…longest list of comments ever. Love it. But also, this is something I’m going to have to do. Was also inspired to check out the charred corn tacos from 4 years ago. Thanks for sharing.
Trying to pack healthy lunches on Sunday for the week, I have been experimenting with zucchini noodles made with a kitchen tool called a vegetti. I made my noodles, then used the almond pesto in Deb’s book. Results–delish, kept perfectly in the fridge for 4 days! Thinking this sesame noodle sauce would be a wonderful thing to do with veggie noodles–any thoughts?
Deb, I tried this using Sunflower Seed Butter (life-threatening allergy to peanuts & nuts) and garnished with toasted & Salted Sunflower seeds and fresh Cilantro. It was a great success. Thank you for sharing
Whole family loved it! Such a fast, summery recipe! Thank you!
I made this for dinner earlier this week and it was a revelation in my stuffy kitchen. It was proclaimed a success by my boyfriend in between bites at an outdoor folk concert, and I loved that it was almost effortless. Just popped on NYT and noticed Sam Sifton just ran a almost identical recipe for sesame takeout noodles on Monday.. quite often I feel like the NYT staff is inspired by this site and I see extremely similar takes only a few days later!
This is a great recipe for a light summer meal, and it doesn’t take long to make. I am going to shop for the ingredients and make this over the weekend. Thanks for sharing!
Omg this food looks so delicious and healthy.. must be tried this one.
Holy mother of god, I made this tonight (doubling the peanut butter since I didn’t have tahini) and it was so good! More than that, it just really hit the spot. And so easy to make! I will never order delivery sesame noodles again when I have that craving.
Ohhhh. Must make this. I used to live nearish Irving Place and there was (is? it’s been a while) a huge Chinese restaurant there that had THE BEST cold sesame noodles. I dream about them.
Did not know about the difference btw Chinese sesame paste and tahini! Thanks!
Thanks for this recipe. It was delicious. It’s going to be a regular in my house. Only had one tbsp of sesame oil, so replaced the second with extra tahini. Added red bell pepper, and used cilantro and scallions to top it. I bought the chili garlic sauce special, which I don’t usually do for a recipe, but it was so worth it. Wonderful!
I made this the other night and the sauce was delish! However, I royally screwed up the noodles…the package said to soak for 45 minutes which just didn’t seem right to me as I thought this was an “easy” dish, so I boiled water and let them soak for a while and NOTHING happened, so I put them on the stove and then they overcooked. Then I realized I didn’t have sesame oil (OF COURSE the bottle was empty in the fridge!), so I subbed some olive oil and they all stuck together anyway. SO! First time rice noodle cook here, but I have learned all of these lessons! We ate them anyway and I’m going to prepare this dish again very soon!
Thansk for the recipe! I made it today and it was yummy… next time I will replace some of the Tahini with fish sauce, I like it salty. And maybe I’ll add some fine carrot sticks tonight to the rest of the noodles (Just trying it out).
This was a delicious summertime dinner!
There were only two things I did differently… I used cellophane noodles (it’s what I had) and served some grilled chicken (only with salt and pepper) on top to make it a dinner sized portion for 4. I doubled the sauce when I made it because I knew I was going to be dipping cucumber slices in it snacking while I worked in the kitchen and I think cellophane noodles really needed a little extra sauce.
Thank you for another phenomenal recipe!
This didn’t quite work for me, maybe because the instructions on my pad thai style rice noodles said “soak for 45 minutes in warm water”. Well that didn’t work. Tried soaking in hot water 10 minutes times two, still too al dente. So the finished dish was still too tough, but when we heated up the leftovers the noodles were fine. Good thing I wasn’t under time pressure for this quick dish!
Same problem as 143 Des!
Re, soaking rice noodles — I wonder if you both used the same brand and if there’s a typo on the package. Mine said soak 30 minutes then boil for a couple minutes (5? 10? can’t remember), but it was definitely a two-part process. I’ve also done it before without the presoaking in a pinch, but never without the boiling step.
Love, love, love! Made it after a long day bike riding and even the boys downed it without complaints! Thanks. Now rummaging through your blog for the next family favourite!!
Finally made this – lightly dressed the noodles with the sesame sauce, then topped with a huge salad of cucumber, baby bok choy, red pepper with a much lighter rice wine vinegar dressing. It was indeed perfect for a hot summer night.
Fast? Easy? Not in my kitchen! Grating ginger is never fast and easy, nor is stirring that Tahini, nor chopping cilantro, garlic, parsley, mint, peanuts…….what a nightmare, particularly the same Tahini you used. Mine was like a block of cement covered by lots of oil. HOWEVER, my picky, picky husband declared this a “perfect dinner”, so today I will work on making the dressing and garnishes take less than an hour to assemble. Also, your photo shows the cucumbers undressed in the bowl. Are they supposed to be served undressed? And which brand is your mandolin? Mine doesn’t make nice wafers like yours, so I need a new one.
Many thanks for recipes that are always perfect exactly as you write them.
Bahb — Glad it was ultimately a hit. I didn’t dress my cukes, mostly because I liked the contrast but I know they ended up with dressing on them too. I love this beriner slicer; it’s actually rare that I see the price as low as I paid many years ago ($20)! They’re reliable and store flat. But watch your fingers, of course.
Deb, it was such a wonderful recipe! I just ate a bowlful of this goodness, delicious yet light. Chinese restaurant of our country do not serve this kind of noodles. So it was a whole new experience for my taste buds. The sauce was awesome although I added soy sauce little by little and ended up using 1.5 tbsp. And instead of tahini I made a toasted sesame paste. Also roasted a red pepper, thinly sliced it and added to noodles to compensate for chili garlic paste(my father is afraid of chilies). Lastly had it with omelets. Thanks :)
This is delicious!
Absolutely amazing, almost too good to be true! Thanks Deb.
This recipe is a winner! We all love it, even the 8 year old! We substitute coconut aminos for the the soy sauce (as my daughter is allergic to soy). Yum yum yum!
Made this for dinner and it was super easy and tasty! I used fresh chinese noodles instead and chili sesame oil cause that was what i had. The flavor is just great! :)
I loved this. It has all the makings of a week-night staple.
I used to eat something like this in Taipei regularly. But it also had some kind of wasabi paste/sauce and shredded chicken that you would mix in just before eating. It is one of the dishes I still crave after 3 years. I will have to try this.
I didn’t have chili-garlic paste, so I threw in some cayenne. This recipe is awesome!
Finally made these! The sauce is awesome!
For the commenters craving more acidity, its important to note that Chinese Rice Vinegar (also known as Chinkiang vinegar) is much stronger, savorier, and glossier than the standard Japanese rice vinegar and is 100% worth seeking out. Its the vinegar you find on tables at dumpling places! You can find it at any Chinese grocery store. It has a yellow label and is a dark color.
I first learned about it on The Wednesday Chef when she talks about Fuchsia Dunlop’s Sichuanese Celery and Beef. Also, an amazing frugal, last minute recipe as long as you keep the vinegar and Sichuan bean paste around.
I was impelled to comment because this recipe and I are in love. Since discovering it recently thanks to the FB feed, we’ve had it every single week. It is damn tasty, easy to prepare, and quick.
For even quicker prep, I make the dressing in advance and keep it in a jar in the fridge.
We like our noodles extra saucy, so I double the dressing.
I also serve with it with a simple pan-fried chicken – filleted in half, sprinkled with salt and pepper, and pan friend in a little olive oil. Top the whole thing with cashews as we always have those around.
Serves us two for dinner, and makes the best leftover lunch the next day.
I think I’ve made every cold peanut/sesame noodle on this site, and this one is the best!
You are a genius. I do a similar recipe (great minds!) that uses chunky avocados instead of peanut butter, chopped thai chilis, and squeezings of fresh lime.
This noodle bowl is delicious! I made the recipe today for the 1st time and will be making this again (soon)!! I added thinly sliced red Thai peppers & scallions as a garnish. I also added a cup of green beans to the boiling noodles for the last 2 mins of cooking. Made dressing exactly as Deb listed. So fresh & light & healthy & flavorful. I will be bringing this to my next summer ‘pot luck’ style gathering. A crowd pleaser for sure. Thanks Deb.
I made this last night “salad bar style” (all components in their own serving dishes) so that the children and grownups could put together their meals in their own preferred proportions. It’s my trick to get the kids to try more complex meals and it works! We also had leftover grilled chicken which I sliced thinly and it was great with the noodles. I did add some lime juice to the dressing (before I even noticed comments about it!) and thought it was perfect. I keep natural peanut butter in the pantry and it was fine here. The only note I have is that with the combination of low-sodium soy sauce, unsalted peanut butter, and unsalted chopped peanuts, my chilled leftovers for lunch were a little bland – nothing that an extra splash of soy sauce couldn’t fix (although when I served it for dinner, it didn’t need any extra, so not really a problem, just a thought for those who might also have leftovers). Delicious!
this recipe popped up on my facebook feed and decided to make it for lunch! Really tasty, I added some gochujang and lime. The gochujang added a great back note of flavour. Next time (because there will definitely be a next time!) I want to add in some roasted thai green chilis
There’s chili-garlic paste in this tantalizing recipe. Do you make it yourself, or is there a particular brand that’s really good?
Can’t wait to make this during the weekend!
i know this is an old comment but chili garlic paste usually refers to the stuff made by the same guy/company who makes sriracha. they also make sambal olek which is the chili garlic paste without the garlic. i can get either at my regular grocery store in the small size for about a dollar. it’s with the asian ingredients (pantry not refrigerated) and is a clear plastic jar with a green lid. looks like this:
https://dcmzfk78s4reh.cloudfront.net/r512x400_1434325312624.jpg
if you can’t find it i’d imagine sriracha would make a good substitute, but i would start with a teaspoon of sriracha and work my way up, as i find i can use way more of the chili garlic sauce than i can of sriracha even though they are similar. or you could use sambal olek and then add in more garlic.
I am now making these with Zoodles (raw) and it’s just as good and perfect for the steamy summer. No cooking at all. I also have been adding chilled shrimp. It’s divine.
I was just going to comment saying that I made zucchini noodles and had this sauce on it! Omg so good!
Sauteed carrot noodles are great with it as well!
I made this!!! It’s seriously so satisfying. I made exactly as instructed but I added sautéed shiitake mushrooms and bean sprouts because I love toppings and to add some more greens. Perfect for summer.
I just tried this for the first time with buckwheat noodles (all I had) and it tastes great!
I also used soba noodles, and green beans, fresh zuchini, etc in-season veg. This sauce is SO good!! And sooooo tasty cold! Totally making again! You could out this sauce on anything and it would perk it up! Excellent recipe!
Delicious!! Added carrots, yellow and orange bell peppers. Served rotisserie chicken on the side for the omnivores. Thank you for a fast, delicious dinner!
This was great but I added cut-up roast chicken and probably too many veggies, so I doubled the sauce recipe, even with only 8 ounces of noodles. I’d be surprised if there’s enough sauce (for my taste, anyway) as written. Easy problem to fix!
I added julienned carrots. It was delicious!
Substitution ideas for chili garlic paste. I tried three local strores. They did have gochujang- same thing? If not – adjustment suggestions? Thanks.
I used sriracha and it was delish!
I left it out, the garlic was spicy enough for me, I would have used chili powder if I had felt it needed more oomph.
I made this! So delicious. Vague measurements worked. I regretted not putting oil on the noodles while they were warm. But it was scrumptious. Made extra cooked veggies to go beside.
used normal pasta instead of rice noodles. was yummy, though i can imagine that rice noodles would be even better! great balance of fresh veggies and herbs (i used cucumbers, red bell peppers, scallions and basil) against the creamy, rich noodles.
I’ve made this twice recently and love it for two, no three reasons: 1) yummy 2) flexible composition for my picky eaters 3) relatively fast for a weeknight. I’ve added shredded store bought rotisserie chicken and left over flank steak and pork tenderloin to make it into a bigger meal. I had only peanut butter and it worked very nicely. We top it with cucumbers and red peppers sliced with a mandolin, cilantro, peanuts and sriracha for the adults.
Kewl thanks, this used to be a favorite of mine too! I think when I make this I’m gonna spiralize a whole cuke and mix it with the real noodles so I can pig out! LOL
Salted cashews are a delicious replacement for peanuts, too!
I varied this wildly, as I didn’t want to go to the grocery store, and it still turned out awesome! I only had about a tablespoon of sesame oil left in the bottle, so I used that up and replaced all of the tahini/sesame paste with peanut butter. Instead of chili garlic paste I used the sriracha I had on hand. And it was great! Still got a little bit of sesame flavor from the oil, and it was actually probably more to my taste as I find sesame easily overpowering. I love a recipe whose flavors adapt easily!
This was so good with added salad shrimp and red pepper! I thought it made a perfect amount of sauce. My 7-year-old son hoovered it right up too! Thanks for the recipe, I’ll definitely be making this again!
Would the egg ribbons from the other soba noodle salad work in this recipe?
Yes, and great idea.
Delicious! I really loved the sauce. We added some cooled grilled chicken to the top just to make it feel like a more complete meal– the noodles alone felt more like a side dish. I wish we’d made more of it so there would have been leftovers.
man i think this takes the prize for SK recipe i’ve had bookmarked the longest before making it, but i finally did! i had leftover rice noodles and everything else is actually normally in my fridge so away i went. it was the first recipe in forever i didn’t mess with because it was just perfect as written.
okay – i did skip the nuts because i don’t care for them, and added a little shredded chicken because i had some that needed using up. i used tahini and cilantro & basil as the herbs :)
https://www.instagram.com/p/BUclkCWgkON/
I’m in the same boat. I had this thing pinned for so long and I’m sad I just made it for the first time within the last month! Delicious and easy.
I just made these I used thinner rice noodle, added lemon juice and a bit of water to the sauce to thin it out, and added chives because I didn’t have cilantro. This is the first hot summer day where I live and this dish was perfect for today: quick to make, refreshing, light and delicious!
Was craving cold noodles in hot weather, and this was great! I followed the recipe to a T for the sauce (using tahini) and it was great. I used noodles I had on hand – a 6.75 oz bag of rice sticks – the *very* thin noodles you soak (that you usually see in spring rolls). It made for a saucy dish (3-4 servings) which was great with cucumber, red bell pepper, cilantro and pulled chicken. Definitely going into the rotation – thank you!
Thank you for this wonderful recipe! It made my day! As my 9 month old twins are going through a bit of a lapse in terms of sleeping through the night, I needed something quick and easy to make while almost being brain dead. This was it! Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Made this recipe for Sunday dinner and it was absolutely fantastic! A really wonderful summer meal – and so pretty too with all of the fresh produce and herbs. Thanks so much for this!
Added cold shredded rotisserie chicken and some julienned carrots and it was a big hit tonight!
Love the carrot idea!
We liked this but are still tweaking it. The first version didn’t have enough sauce or oomph. We’ve increased the sauce, and the toppings, and are still underwhelmed. We like it enough to give it one more try, so we’re going to add some acid to give it zing and to thin out the sauce next time – maybe lime or sherry vinegar (David Chang recipes tend to use SV a lot and I love it). Might try playing with the tahini/sesame oil ratio as well to thin the dressing while keeping the sesame kick.
Delicious. Fun. Tasty. Easy. I put a fried egg on top for some protein. Sooo good.
oh great idea! I’ll try it with the egg!
Made this dish and added baked tofu to it for some protein. Oh wow – this was so good and so easy! This is super fast too and is definitely possible on a weeknight. My husband’s comment was “You should plan to make this every week.” And my toddler liked it too :)
Made this for the third time (which is rare – I’m always cooking new things and rarely coming back to recipes despite how delicious they may be!), and I will here on out always add chopped raw red pepper to this along with the cucumbers. It was a great addition! We also have added tofu, edamame, and egg successfully to this dish.
I made this tonight with vermicelli style rice noodles as the store didn’t have the thicker variety. Still fabulous. FYI, I cooked the required 3/4 pound, but due to the increased surface area of the vermicelli style noodles, I could only use about two thirds of the noodles. I grilled some chicken marinated in the chili paste and some sesame oil and placed on top for some additional protein. It was terrific! Thanks, Deb. Another great recipe.
Made this on a cold and snowy February night with a couple of “Winter” changes. Made the sauce per recipe and set aside and soaked the noodles as per the “Stir Fry” instructions (Taste of Thai noodles). I then tossed leftover pork tenderloin (cut into sticks) with broccolini (rough chopped) and red bell pepper (sticks) in a large fry pan lightly coated with sesame oil and a bit of olive oil. I added the drained noodles and cooked until everything was al dente and the meat was heated through. I poured the sauce over all and tossed until everything was thoroughly coated and hot. Garnished with sliced quartered cuke, chopped peanuts and cilantro. It was absolutely delicious!
Just wondering how long the sauce would keep for in the fridge?
Just made this and it’s better than I even imagined. Thank you Deb for another tasty treat!
Hi Deb, Just wanted to let you know that I keep having trouble finding this recipe as it’s not on your index (I don’t think!) and I keep forgetting the name of the dish to search for it. It has been on my to-try list for ages and seems perfect for the end of the Australian summer we are currently enjoying. Cheers!
Scratch that! It is, just not under ‘pasta’ which is where I’ve been looking.
I love these too, with almost any noodle. Last night we tried it with spaghetti squash instead of noodles. We often use it in place of bean threads when we cook Chinese, and figured it might be good here. This turns out delicious! It becomes something quite different, like a salad instead of a pasta dish, and would be perfect for summer as a side, or a big bowl’o’dinner.
Super good! Came together quickly and easily. Light and satisfying. Used thin Shanghai noodles, crunchy pb only (no tahini on hand), lots of thin cukes and added thinly sliced red pepper and scallions on top. Would be good with matchstick carrots and sesame seeds as well. Tossed noodles with a small amount of the sauce, plated for individuals, then added more sauce to the noddles before topping noddles with vegetable in a “composed salad” style. I found myself adding more sauce to the noodles halfway through but like this approach so each bite is a bit different. I forgot the chili until halfway through enjoying and ended up not adding it because I was happy and I didn’t feel like it needed it! Thanks Deb, as always
I’ve made this twice and it’s a very good recipe. The sesame sauce has a nice tang from the sugar and vinegar and the sesame oil/tahini/peanut butter makes it thick and rich. The first time I made it I didn’t have tahini and substituted 2T peanut butter (total 3T PB) and it worked just fine with a strong sesame oil/peanut flavor. This time I used tahini as directed and the sauce is just as good, but I think the flavor is a little more subtle.
I used fusilli pasta since that’s what I had on hand and I figured the leftovers will keep better than making it with rice noodles, but I’m sure more delicate noodles would have been great. I also added a batch of cooled crispy baked tofu (another great recipe–can be found on David Lebovitz’s blog) and then topped with sliced cucumber, peppers, scallions, and cilantro. Some basil would have been wonderful, but I didn’t have any. Really, all sorts of raw veggie/herb combinations (carrot matchsticks, bean sprouts, etc.) would work.
I’ve made this a few times for potluck-type parties; typically I use the big thick udon noodles (it took me forever to discover that these are in the *freezer* case of my local Asian supermarket, in ramen-esque bricks) and set it up with individual bowls of thinly-sliced cucumber, chopped peanuts, shredded chicken (sous-vided with garlic and lime) and chili-garlic paste. (I usually skip the peanut butter because people have allergies.) It’s always been a huge hit, and a friend emailed me for the recipe yesterday, which is what brought me back here. :-)
Made it with ramen noodles, since I have a surplus of them on hand. Turned out really well. I’m going to be taking them for lunches next week, but I like extra sauce and spice, so I doubled the amount of sauce to add more later and added and extra teaspoon of chili paste
Loved this. The leftovers were great for lunch the next day, but I kept the sauce and noodles separate until right before eating. By the way, you could add this to your “Vegan” tag!
Delicious! I used a lot of raw chopped veggies – peppers, carrot, spinach and layered that on the bottom of a serving plate along with cilantro and scallions, then topped with a simple cooked chicken breast stir fry, then topped with the dressed noodles (I made the dressing while cooking so could skip piling the noodles until dressed) and finally sprinkled sesame seeds on top. Easy to serve for my family of 6 this way with a pair of tongues.
New Monday night favorite for toddler and parents alike. Since it’s not cuke season, I used grated carrot for the veg. Otherwise, completely followed the recipe, and it’s great.
Made for a quick lunch today, mostly as written because I had the ingredients. With a heat index of almost 110, I swore off cooking. This was about 15 minutes from start to stomach, and nobody believed it was so simple. Perfect base for using up the veggies in my fridge. Due to a new allergy to sesame seeds/hummus, but not to sesame oil, I used 3 T of natural peanut butter. No regrets. Making it again this weekend to finish off my soba noodles.
Another hit! I kept thinking I needed to preheat my wok….alas, none needed. Perfect “cool” summer time meal incorporating fresh garden veggies with a kick! I had just run out of tahini so I simply used peanut butter and threw in some cashews for crunch. Peanut allergies not in issue in our household.
I have made this before with sesame oil but peanut butter instead of hummus due to an allergy. That allergy has worsened and I can no longer use sesame oil. Can anyone recommend a substitute oil? I was considering walnut or pumpkin seed oil. Since I currently own neither, I’ll wait for someone to weigh in before I spend my money. Thank you!
I know you asked this awhile ago, but if you’re still looking for ideas, another toasted oil should work well. I’ve made it with toasted walnut oil before when I was out of toasted sesame oil. But honestly you could omit using a toasted oil and and just use a neutral oil to keep the noodles from sticking together. It won’t have the same flavor but the combination of ginger, peanut butter and soy sauce and some kind of chili oil is still delicious. I’ve made this recipe dozens of times and you really can’t go wrong!
Thanks for your suggestion, it worked well. Walnut also worked well, as did light olive. Depends on the vegetables used. Also less related- I’ve started using cashew butter or cashews ground at home in place of sesame tahini. It’s mild, sweet, not the same, but a very acceptable sub. Husband and kids like it too.
Might be worth trying *toasted* peanut oil.
This looks and sounds great! Do you know how long it will keep in the fridge? Or does it get better with age? Sometimes I’ve made other similar recipes (different site) and there is an off flavor after a day or two. Thanks – you always have such great recipes!
I usually only mix onto the noodles what we will eat. I haven’t noticed any off flavor.
Holy crap. This takes zero time and is so good I was dipping the noodles and cucumbers in the sauce repeatedly before I mixed it all together. Why? Why is it so good?? I didn’t even have as much tahini on-hand as I thought I did, so it was definitely peanutty, and it was perfect. I’m making this every week for the rest of cucumber season! And doubling the sauce next time because it’s that good.
I can’t believe this. This is why I like the Smitten Kitchen so much – this looks like such an exotic dish, yet – for the most part – I have all the ingredients already, and reading the directions – it sounds so easy! I am going to try this this weekend, and I am sure, as with all of your recipes, that it will be delicious. Thanks again!
OK, so I made this tonight, and it is amazing – I could have just eaten the sauce by itself, I had to discipline myself to put it on the noodles. This is another keeper recipe!
I’ve made this so much, I think I know the recipe by heart. My family LOVES it. I love all the suggestions. I would love to lighten it up for me and the zucchini noodles sound perfect. Thanks for the great recipe.
This has become one of my go-to easy dinners, especially when I have extra cucumber lying around. I usually make it with soba noodles.
Should we use natural (unsweetened) peanut butter or the regular (sweetened) smooth peanut butter?
While I think both work, I do use the processed stuff.
Thanks! Made it last night with the processed stuff and it was wonderful.
Deb – if using natural pnut butter or all sesame should we add a tad more sugar? Since sweetened pnut butter is certainly sweeter than natural
This was a really good sauce for noodles – although I used warm, not cold noodles. Excellent.
Oh my, I’ve been wanting to make this for ages.
I whipped up the sauce while my water was boiling.
Grabbed my cukes-Mushy. 😭
I watched the recent video and you mentioned adding tofu, do you prepare it in some way besides cubing?
I have no tahini in the house, and would prefer not to order/grocery shop again this week. Think using extra peanut butter will be an adequate substitute? Or do you have another recommendation? I could also just wait and make this next week…
Yes, you can swap tahini for the peanut butter or peanut butter for the tahini here; all will work.
So easy and yummy. I had all the ingredients on hand and it was a great way to spice up quarantine life
This is one of my favorite SK recipes (and that’s saying a lot). I find myself needing to be extra careful about my sodium intake and just tried this, with low sodium Worcestershire sauce instead of soy sauce. the soy sauce version is better, but this comes very close!
This is fantastic. I love the flavors. I accidentally left out the brown sugar and didn’t notice until I’d already mixed the sauce with the noodles. I don’t miss it at all.
Perfect Memorial Day lunch!
Not crazy about how this dish turned out. I used seasoned rice vinegar. Could that have been a mistake? I’ve been making cold sesame noodles for decades using Karen Lee’s recipe which does not use peanut butter and specifies red Chinese vinegar, mung bean sprouts and no sugar. Works for me.
What went wrong? Seasoned rice vinegar is sweetened, and often has salt or MSG too. So, it won’t provide the same acidity.
Had to comment after making this so many times. It’s so good, Deb. Thank you.
Can I make this a day in advance or is it best to make sauce and cook noodles but not assemble the entire dish until shortly before serving?
I enjoyed the sauce, but the rice noodles leave much to be desired. Next time I’ll use the proper egg noodles or even spaghetti.
I just made this for lunches for this week, and it’s traveled beautifully! I dressed the cucumbers with just a bit of rice vinegar for some extra flavor and packed them separately from the noodles, and I’m enjoying it in my (empty, sanitized, socially distanced) classroom now!
I don’t know what I was thinking but I ventured away from SK last night bc I was in the mood for warm, saucy, garlic-gingery mushroom noodles. I’m not proud to admit it, but I tried a recipe from another absurdly popular food blog (on IG anyway), though I’d never heard any actual cooks mention it, and this may come as no surprise, but it was a major disappointment. It took well over an hour, despite “30-minute” being in the title of the dish. Lesson learned; just bc a site has a lot of IG followers does not mean the recipes are good. Thank you for all you do here on SK, specifically test your recipes!
Wait I think I have that recipe bookmarked…
Ha, don’t do it!!! Trust me. (But maybe fix it? Pretty please?! Because it does *sound* good!)
I love that I have everything in my fridge to make this! It’s whats for dinner
I just made this for a quick working from home lunch – absolutely DELICIOUS, thank you!! I added some shaved celery on top and some leftover gojuchang soy sauce I’d made for another dish. I can see what I’ll be eating all summer…
Yum! I used whole wheat spaghetti, mint and scallion for herbs, added a half a red pepper that needed using, blanched broccoli florets and some crispy tofu. Healthyish, delish and very adaptable I think for using up veg in the fridge
This is delicious and so quick. I had bean thread noodles so I used those. I should have been more thorough about draining, but the sauce was still wonderful even slightly diluted. I quick pickled the cucumber but I don’t think it’s necessary.
Spouse made this today with only peanut butter instead of PB and tahini. Served with the cucumbers, radish, julienned carrot, green onion and thin sliced cucumber (like in your pad Thai). He also made a concentrated mix of soy, chili sauce and a little sesame oil so the people who wanted more heat could have it. As ever, thanks for the great recipe. The family wants it in repeat now :-)
That sauce! I doubled the batch and hoo boy am I glad I did! I can put it on sauteed broccoli and eat it up! This dish will be made again in our home this summer! I didn’t have chili oil, so didn’t use that, just used a generous amount of ginger and garlic for the sauce.
Changes I made: added tofu that was drained, pan-fried and tossed with a whole lota salt and some chilli powder. Had some peas and broccoli, so crisped them in a pan and added that too along with cucumbers and radishes in the end.
Also a recommendation for those so inclined: this was the second time I used Lotus Food’s brown rice and millet flour ramen, and I can see that it’s gonna be my go-to for dishes of this nature! Definitely try if you want to do whole grain noodles.
Deb! I knew you’d have just what I needed on yet another (!) too hot day at 6000 ft! I cobbled it together with what I had right now. The dressing was perfect and your suggestion of adding fresh mint, just snipped from the garden was brilliant! Thank you again!
There you go reading my mind again! Tomorrow’s lunch. Thanks
Made for dinner last night – delicious! Had no tahini (added a sprinkle of sesame seeds) or chili paste and it was still so good! I added shrimp to add some protein to the dish. This was so easy and we loved it. Thank you!
I love this recipe. The sauce is delicious!
The first time I made it just as instructed and it was great. I’ve made it 5 of 6 times now and have been riffing on it in different ways each time, changing up the herbs and the way I cut the cucumbers. I love doing half noodles, half greens (usually spring mix or spinach), adding scallions with the herbs, and adding baked tofu cubes or those frozen vegetarian chick’n strips for protein. I just made it and added strips of carrots (cut thin and flat with a vegetable peeler) with the cucumber and it was delicious!
I always store the noodles + protein, sauce, herb mix, and veggie mix separately from each other. The noodles absorb all the sauce if you pre-mix them, and that’s sad. But it’s easy to prep everything, put it in containers, and have stuff to put a bowl of this together in minutes!
I like to read articles that make people think. and
Thanks for allowing me to comment!
We followed the recipe to the letter and it was fine enough, but I wasn’t drop dead in love with it (as I usually am with SK recipes). To be fair, I’ve never had takeout noodles for allergy contamination reasons, so I have absolutely nothing to compare this to. I did, however, have a little Thai peanut sauce leftover from the fridge and then a mango-peanut dressing leftover from a Modern Market salad. Both were absolutely heavenly on this, which isn’t surprising since the rest of the meal appears to be a bit of a blank slate for a divine sauce. We will probably also throw on some crispy tofu next time to round it out into a full meal and offset the glycemic index a tiny bit. Moral of the story: if you’re not digging the sauce, don’t give up. Try a Thai peanut sauce or a mango peanut dressing instead if you’ve got the ingredients on hand. If you do love the original sauce, then carry on as before (there’s no need to minimize existing happiness in this world).
THIS IS MY FAVORITE COLD NOODLE DISH!!! I have seriously made this 50 times through the last few summers!! Thank you for such a quick and DELICIOUS dish:)
Used the sauce recipe tonight to make some cold yakisoba noodles with loads of veggies and toppings. I love this sauce! And I love having good cold dinner dishes on oppressively hot weekends — whew!
This was SO GOOD. I used what I had, a half pound of rice noodles, pad thai noodles the package said. I made the recipe in a different order;I made the sauce first (used a tsp of harissa for garlic chili), then sliced the veggies ( I used cucumber but also scallions and grated carrots, and cilantro for the top). Once that was done, then I cooked the noodles, rinsed them in cold water, and then mixed it all together. It was delicious!
Any suggestions for using almond butter? Pnut allergy here
Really nice and easy sauce. I have so many cukes in my garden and we are in a heatwave so this was a perfect option. That said, next time, I will make a cucumber and onion salad to put on top rather than just plain cucumbers. I use the BBQ Bible salad recipe (dressing: 1-1/2 T sugar, 3 T rice vinegar and 1/2 t salt). Thx! I am going to try your farro and summer veggie recipe, tomorrow! It looks so yummy!
I have made this twice now, and everyone in my family loves it. The sauce is really the shining star here. I’ve adapted the rest of the recipe to use rice instead of rice noodles and to add some cold chicken for more protein. Because I honestly think this sauce would make cardboard taste delicious!
Oh, and the second time I made it, I also added some coconut milk to stretch the sauce even further (we should be able to get 6-8 lunches out of it), and that works great too. So many peanut sauces include coconut milk – it’s a great fit
Great recipe as always. I used gochujang for chili paste and also added pickled onions &bell peppers, bean sprouts and scallions. Don’t sleep on the mint garnish- really makes the dish sing.
Delicious!
I mixed a dinner size portion the day I made it, and, kept everything seperate for lunch the next day. I layered it into a jar — sauce on the bottom, peanuts, veggies (green onions, broccoli slaw, cucumbers) and oiled noodles on top. Dumped out and stirred when time to eat. it was perfect! Nothing got soggy.
I just made this tonight.
I loved using sesame paste, which is new to me, and I found it dry. I think I’d double the sauce next time plus add some lime juice for good measure. I also added shrimp for hungry teenagers.