Peanut Noodle Chicken Stir-Fry
To skip the post and step-by-step instructions and go straight to recipe, click here.I’m not typically huge on Asian-inspired cuisine - I was raised on spaghetti and homemade pizza. However, when I first had peanut noodles, I straight-up swooned. Peanut butter and noodles are two of my favorite things in the world to eat, and to find out they could be combined? Oh, heck yeah!
Now, that being said, you’ll have to excuse my inexperience with the subject. I know food, sure. But if that food is rice noodles? Well...I’d always rather eat it than cook it. I had to make this entire recipe an extra THREE times after perfecting the sauce and stir-fry, simply trying to get the flipping rice noodles to have the right cook on them. Typically, rice noodles are cooked by soaking them in warm to hot water. This is how most, but not all, rice noodles are instructed to be cooked on their packaging. However, I always ended up waiting for ages just to have my water get cold and my noodles still way too chewy. So, I eventually opted for boiling the noodles (yes, a travesty, I know) as I would wheat noodles. The main reason that this isn’t typically recommended is because rice noodles can go from totally crunchy to a pile of wet mush in no time at all. So, if you opt for boiling, like me, rather than the instructions on your rice noodles’ packaging, just be sure to check them frequently until they’re perfect, then run them under cool water so they stop cooking right then and there. When the noodles are perfectly cooked, this dish is SO perfectly slurpy and scrumptious.
Plain peanut noodles are of course delicious, quick, and easy, and if you’re looking for a simple recipe for just a really good peanut sauce to throw on some noods, check out my crunchy thai peanut sauce recipe. But this dish, with the addition of tender chicken and vegetable stir-fry, makes peanut noodles a well-balanced, gourmet meal. You can also very easily make this dish vegan by substituting the chicken for tofu or seitan, or just omitting the protein for a delicious veggie version.
Step-By-Step Walk-Through
If you’re feeling confident in your cooking skills and want to skip the walk-through, click here.
Step 1:
Make Sauce
First, finely mince 3-4 cloves of garlic. Make sure all the skin is removed from the garlic, and that the hard end is cut off. Or, you can use 2 teaspoons of pre-minced garlic, but this will result in a less fresh and less garlicky flavor.
Next, grate ¼ teaspoon of fresh ginger root. Before grating, make sure to peel your ginger. You can do this by quickly scraping the edge of a spoon down the sides of the root. There are many videos online showing how to do this, and it’s my favorite method. Then, grate using the second largest size grater on a box grater.
Then, combine ⅓ cup crunchy peanut butter, 2 tablespoons soy sauce, 1 teaspoon sesame oil, 3 tablespoons honey, 2 heaping teaspoons chili garlic sauce (I use and recommend Huy Fong, which can be found at most grocery stores), 1 ½ tablespoons of rice vinegar, and your ginger and garlic in a medium sized bowl and whisk well, until smooth and well-combined.
Step 2:
Prep Ingredients
Cut ¼ of a yellow onion and ¼ of a red bell pepper julienne style (thin strips).
Remove the strings from 1 cup of sugar snap peas by grasping the top and pulling down the straight side of each pod. Then, cut the pea pods in half on a diagonal.
Rinse 4 white button mushrooms under cool water, gently rubbing off any dirt. Slice them thinly.
Trim all fat and veins from either 1 large or 2 small chicken breasts. Cut into thin slices. If you have one large chicken breast instead of two smaller ones, I’d recommend cutting it in half and then slicing it, to keep the slices relatively bite-sized.
Step 3:
Stir-fry
Heat a large frying pan over medium high heat. I used a stainless steel pan (not nonstick). I find that this will conduct the heat best. If you have access to a wok, that would be even better! Once warm, add 1 tablespoon of peanut oil to the pan, then add the onion. Stirring constantly, cook for about 2 minutes until the onions are beginning to soften and become translucent.
Then, add your mushrooms, bell peppers, and snap peas. Continually stirring, cook another 2 minutes.
Lastly, add your chicken and season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Stir continually, cooking for about 5 to 7 minutes, until a thicker piece of chicken broken in half has no more pink in the middle. The vegetables should be mostly tender, the snap peas remaining a little crisp. Remove from heat and cover to keep warm.
Step 4:
Cook Noodles
To cook your rice noodles, you can either follow the instructions on your rice noodles (I recommend pad-thai style rice noodles, the brand I used was Sun Luck), or you can boil them as you would a wheat pasta. To boil them, boil 7 cups of water in a large pot. Add the noodles. Stir about every 30 seconds at least. After boiling about 5 minutes, taste the noodles every minute until desired texture is reached (mine took about 8 to 10 minutes testing two different brands). Then, drain them and immediately rinse with cool water to stop any further cooking.
Step 5:
Assemble
Put the noodles back in the pot they were cooked in. Add the stir-fried vegetables and chicken, along with the sauce. Toss with tongs until everything is evenly coated.
To plate, split onto two to three deep plates or shallow bowls. This dish is fairly saucy and this will keep it contained and look nicer. Then, if desired, garnish with ½ of a scallion, thinly sliced, and 1 tablespoon of chopped peanuts.
Peanut Noodle Chicken Stir-Fry
Servings: 2-3 Time: 45-60 minutes
Difficulty: 🧡🧡🧡🤍🤍
Ingredients:
Sauce:
⅓ cup crunchy peanut butter
2 TBS. soy sauce
1 tsp. sesame oil
3 TBS. honey
2 heaping tsp. chili garlic sauce
1 ½ TBS. rice vinegar
2 tsp. minced garlic (3-4 cloves)
¼ tsp. fresh grated ginger
Stir fry:
4 ½ ounces pad thai style rice noodles
1 TBS. peanut oil
¼ of a yellow onion, julienned
¼ of a red bell pepper, julienned
1 cup sugar snap peas, strings removed, cut in half on a diagonal
4 white button mushrooms, rinsed and thinly sliced
1 large or 2 small chicken breasts, well trimmed and sliced
Pinch of salt and pepper
Garnish (Optional)
½ of a scallion, thinly sliced
1 TBS. chopped peanuts
Directions
Step 1: Mix sauce
Combine all sauce ingredients in a medium bowl and whisk until smooth and well-combined.
Step 2: Prep Ingredients
Slice all of your stir-fry ingredients to have ready for when you begin the stir-fry. The cooking process moves quickly, so it’s best to have all of your ingredients prepared.
Step 3: Stir-Fry
Heat a large frying pan over medium high heat. Once warmed, add peanut oil and onions. Stir-fry for about 2 minutes, or until onions are beginning to get soft and translucent. Then, add the mushrooms, peppers, and snap peas. Stir-fry for another 2 minutes, or until the peppers and mushrooms begin to soften slightly. Lastly, add the chicken and season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Stir-fry for 5-7 minutes or until a piece of chicken cut in half is no longer pink in the center. Vegetables should be mostly tender, the snap peas remaining a bit crisp.
Step 4: Cook Noodles
Every brand of rice noodles has instructions that work best for it, so if you’d like to follow the instructions on the packaging, please do so. However, I’ve found that the way that works best for me is simply boiling as you would wheat pasta, checking very frequently.
Boil 7 cups of water in a large pot over high heat. Add rice noodles and stir every 30 seconds or so. After 5 minutes, do a taste check every minute or so until the noodles are the desired texture. They should be able to bite through easily and cleanly with no rubbery chew, but not be mushy. When they are the texture you want (mine took about 10 minutes total for one brand, 8 for another), immediately pour the noodles into a colander to drain and rinse with cool water to stop further cooking.
Step 5: Assemble
Return the noodles to the pot and add the stir-fried chicken and vegetables and the peanut sauce. Toss with tongs until all the ingredients are covered in sauce, then split on to 2 or 3 deep plates or shallow bowls. If desired, sprinkle with sliced scallions and chopped peanuts to garnish.