A Fork on the Road
Not a fork in the road, but a fork on the road, as in a picnic when you’re eating on your lap and it’s so much easier to manage with just a fork. After countless Tanglewood picnics, we finally hit on a main course that is delicious at room temperature and easy to eat while balancing a plate on your knee. For the salmon, we often use an Asian marinade then grill it, although oven-baked, as in this previous blog post, is just as good. The cold noodle recipe from this week’s Berkshire Eagle column can be found below. Most authentically this recipe would use Chinese sesame paste, but, because I can’t source that very easily, I almost always use peanut butter. This menu also works well when you need something you can make ahead, to serve when the weather is too hot to cook.
OPEN SESAME! GO NUTS!
by Elizabeth Baer
In trying times, it’s important to find joy whenever you can. Not surprisingly, cooking for those I love brings me great joy, and it also makes me happy to get feedback from my readers! Oftentimes friends and family will reach out with a cooking question, and I love offering help and ideas. Recently someone asked me to brainstorm a pescatarian meal with them, for which a grill was not available, and with most guests enjoying salmon, but one person not liking salmon at all. I suggested the baked salmon recipe which I’ve written about previously, using the same method with something like cod or haddock for one portion. I also suggested my sesame-peanut noodles as a side, and when I went home to email links to these recipes, I came to discover, quite surprisingly, that I had not written a column about these noodles!
After the first time I attempted to make this type of noodle dish at home I vowed never again. Although it was delicious, the recipe had me using the food processor to mix the sauce, and, of course, bits of the oily, peanut-butter-y sauce got into every crevice and made cleaning extremely difficult, almost impossible. Then I saw a recipe that simply had me whisk together the ingredients in a large bowl. I was doubtful, because when I tried it, the peanut butter (or Chinese sesame paste) didn’t seem to incorporate fully into the sauce. But once I put the cooked, rinsed noodles on top, the sauce seemed to come together magically.
I use a 10-ounce package of a wheat-based Chinese noodle that cooks in just 3 minutes, but buckwheat soba noodles or even pasta can also be used. In Chinese culture it would be considered bad luck to break the noodles, but if they are extremely long, you may want to break them before cooking for convenience sake, especially if diners will be eating on their laps, with just a fork, as can be the case with this menu – salmon (baked or grilled) and noodles – our go-to Tanglewood picnic main course.
SESAME-PEANUT NOODLES
Serves 8-10
INGREDIENTS:
One 2-inch piece fresh ginger
1 clove garlic
¼ cup smooth peanut butter, preferably no sugar added, or Chinese sesame paste
5 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons sesame oil
3 tablespoons rice vinegar or Chinese black vinegar
1½ tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon chili paste (sambal oelek or similar product), or more to taste
10 ounces noodles, preferably Asian wheat noodles, buckwheat soba, or spaghetti
For garnish (optional): julienned carrots, cucumber, red peppers, scallions; cooked corn cut from the cob; chopped unsalted roasted peanuts or sesame seeds
DIRECTIONS:
Using a Microplane or other fine-hole grater, grate the ginger and the garlic into a large bowl. I like to use the largest bowl I have for ease in tossing the noodles. Add the remaining ingredients except for noodles and optional garnishes. Using a whisk or a rubber spatula, smush the peanut butter and mix into the other ingredients as best you can. The peanut butter will not fully incorporate into the sauce, but it should get broken up into small clumps.
Bring a pot of water to a boil. If the noodles are long, you may choose to break them into smaller pieces. Cook according to package directions. Drain in a colander and rinse with cold water. Dump the wet noodles into the sauce and toss gently with tongs to distribute the sauce evenly throughout. The residual water on the noodles will help the ingredients in the sauce incorporate fully. Any liquid at the bottom of the bowl will get absorbed. Cover and place in the refrigerator until ready to serve. Garnish as desired. (If using julienned cucumber, only use the solid portions, not the seeds, and blot dry with paper towel.)