Spicy satay noodles

My favourite Asian dish is satay chicken by a country mile but sometimes if I’m in a hurry, I want the flavour without the effort. This is an incredibly simple noodle dish that achieves just that!  If I’m cooking for the whole family I leave out the pepper and peanuts, but this really does work best with that spicy kick and the added salty crunch!

Ingredients

• ½ tablespoon of Szechuan peppercorns
• 3½ ounces / 100g smooth peanut butter
• 1 tablespoon of sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon of low salt soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon of sweet chilli sauce
• juice of two limes
• 2 tablespoons of groundnut oil
• 3½ ounces / 100g fine green beans, trimmed and halved
• 1 red pepper, deseeded and sliced
• 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely sliced
• 1 lb 5 ounces / 600g cooked medium egg noodles
• 5¼ ounces / 150g beansprouts
• small bunch coriander, roughly chopped
• 3½ ounces / 100g salted peanuts

Method

In a small dry frying pan, heat the peppercorns until they’re starting to release their fragrant aroma.  Remove to a pestle and mortar and grind to a fine powder.

Mix the peanut butter, sesame oil, soy, chilli sauce and lime juice in a bowl.

Heat the groundnut oil in a wok and stir fry the green beans for 2 minutes.

Add the Szechuan, red pepper and chilli and stir fry for another 2 minutes.

Add the noodles and peanut butter sauce and continue to fry for 2-3 minutes.  You might find that the peanut butter clumps at first – I find it easier to use a pair of large forks and toss as you would a salad at this stage to ensure everything is evenly coated.

Add the beansprouts and coriander, combine well and stir fry for 1 more minute before serving with a handful of salted peanuts as garnish.

Trivia

Also known as Chinese coriander, Szechuan pepper or peppercorns is a spice commonly used in Chinese, Tibetan, Nepali, and Indian cuisine. The whole peppercorn is often found in Szechuan cooking while the finely ground powder is one of the ingredients of the Chinese five-spice mixture. As an ingredient, Szechuan pepper is not as hot or as pungent as white, black, or chilli peppers and has more subtle lemony flavour. It serves to create a slight numbness in the mouth preparing it for the more fiery spices to come.