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Wednesday, November 17, 2010

The Quest for the Perfect Spicy Peanut Noodle Soup Part I

Hey hey HEY!


There is a Chinese restaurant here in my Osborne Village 'hood called the Spicy Noodle House.  My sister 'Boomer', who refers to the owners of the resto as Mr. and Mrs. Noodle, brings home a brown paper bag from said noodle house once every week or so that contains a huge vat of the most incredible spicy peanut noodle soup.  The Boom custom orders it by asking for the vegetable tofu noodle soup with the spicy peanut soup base.  I don't know if it's even vegan, but I DO know that it's incredibly good and I have been obsessed with perfecting the recipe at home.  This is the recipe I have come up with and it's delish!  It's great for utilizing pantry staples (peanut butter, udon noodles, chili flakes, veggie stock) and veggies you are likely to have around (carrots, onions, and whatever other veg you might throw into a stir fry).  Besides, there's nothin' like a little spice to keep ya warm on a chilly November day ;)


KITCHEN TIP ALERT!:  There is nothing like fresh ginger.  Save the ground stuff for baking and spice rubs.  Store fresh ginger root in your freezer.  It keeps for a looooooong time and it's super easy to grate when it's frozen!  Just peel it, put it into a little freezer bag and use it as you need it.  I also like to freeze slices of peeled ginger to make ginger tea (fresh ginger slices steeped in boiling water with honey) for any time I feel under the weather (great for tummy troubles, coughs, colds and flu!) 


Spicy Peanut Noodle Soup
Ingredients:
1 tbsp grapeseed oil
1 tsp sesame oil
1 large onion, diced
8 cloves garlic, sliced
3 tbsp fresh grated ginger
2 tsp chili flakes (or more if ya need it HOTTA)
2 carrots, cut in half lengthwise then sliced into half-moon shapes
2 cups sliced mushrooms, a mix of crimini and shitake
2 cups chopped bok choy or other Asian cabbage
8 cups veg stock or water
6 tbsp tamari soy sauce
1 cup natural peanut butter (I like chunky!)
2 pkgs udon noodles
1 pkg medium tofu, cubed
1 can sliced water chestnuts, drained and rinsed
S&P

In your favorite soup pot (every soup lover has one), heat the oils on medium heat.  Saute the onion, garlic, ginger, chili flakes and carrot until tender.  Add the mushrooms and bok choy and saute just until soft.  Add the stock or water and tamari.  Bring the soup to a boil and then drop the heat to a simmer.

Stir in the peanut butter until totally blended into the broth and then add the udon noodles, tofu and water chestnuts.  Simmer the soup for fifteen - twenty minutes and season with S&P.  All you crazy spice freaks can add some sriracha hawt sauce right about now. 

The quest for the perfect replica continues...

Spicy Kisses,
V.V.


16 comments:

  1. :) Oh please, please perfect this....I too am looking for a way to duplicate the Spicy Noodle House soups!! :)

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  2. Some notes on how I think this soup can be made better:

    1. Add more mushrooms. I add about 7 cups (mind you, I do double the recipe). They should also be shiitake and/or oyster.
    2. personally I don't think the veggies should be sautéed until tender. I find that asian soups such as these almost always have crunchy veggies. I recommend that one put the choy and carrots in together, stir until coated in oil, then add the liquid. Afterwords, bring the soup to a quick boil, turn off the element, add the rest of the ingredients, then heat it up a little bit to allow the flavours to meld together.
    3. more ginger (probably add about 8tbsp)
    4. a chili pepper or some other fresh hot pepper (or two)
    5. I find that 2 pkgs of udon noodles overwhelms the soup - I keep the amount but add more veggies/broth/peanut butter/etc.
    6. I also buy fresh peanut butter from vita health (you can actually make it yourself). Makes a huge difference.

    Anyway, just some of the changes I made.

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  3. Our whole family loves the spicy peanut noodle soup at the Delicious Vegetarian. I would really like to have their recipe.

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  4. I cannot explain to you how desperate I have been for the Spicy Noodle House spicy peanut noodle soup since I moved from Winnipeg a few years ago. Going to try this recipe this weekend! THANK YOU.

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  5. Enjoy! It's not exact, but it's a tasty imitation. Play with the flavors to get it to your liking :) xoxo

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  6. I made this and it tastes exactly like Spring Roll's spicy peanut soup which happens to be my all time favourite (more than Spicy Noodle House). Thanks for the recipe!

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    1. YAY YAY YAY! So glad to hear it turned out great! xoxo

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  7. Having just eaten at Spicy Noodle House last week, I was trying to find a recipe for this amazing soup. Gonna try this out! Your pic looks a little thicker than the one I had, however.

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  8. I used to visit SNH at least once a week to get my hands on their delicious soup. Times have changed and I don't find myself in the village that frequently any longer so, to find a recipe for such a reasonable facsimile is huge! Made this last night and am still lingering in its spicy goodness.

    Thank you VV, You're awesome.

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  9. I think you are forgetting some apple cider vinegar! Made it to your recipe, and I felt it was missing something! added 1/4 vinegar and it seemed to do the trick! Thanks for the inspiration :)

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  10. I know this article is old... but check this out!
    http://pinchofyum.com/homemade-spicy-ramen-with-tofu
    I just made this and noticed the broth was familiar... it's nearly identical to the broth in the spicy peanut noodle soup.
    I made a couple changes in my broth - I only had access to Massawippi's organic Soya and Rice Miso so I used a tub of that and I also had no Mirin so I used 2tbsp (not 3) of red wine vinegar.
    I'm going to work on making this broth into spicy peanut noodle soup next round.
    Enjoy!

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  11. This is a great recipe! Not quite like SNH but so good it doesn’t matter. It’s less greasy and loved all the veggies. I used canola oil instead of grape seed and reg soy instead of tamari. Skipped the tofu and water chestnuts. I added a bit more sesame oil, ginger, and chilli flakes and used ramen noodles instead as the Rooster brand is barely any sodium or fat and udon tends to be crazy high in both those. Garnished with peanuts and sliced green onion! I might try adding coconut milk next time to get it a little creamier. :)

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  12. Omg thank you for this!!! Tastes quite similar! I added a bit more sesame oil, a 1/2 cup more of peanut butter, a can of coconut milk, and substituted bamboo shoots instead of the water chestnuts cause couldn't find the water chestnuts at stupidstore. Super comforting on a chilly november day!

    My next request, can you figure out how Thilda's Thai makes their green curry soup????

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  13. ive been trying to find this soup from the spicy noodle house for years from alberta to bc. years! glad theres another quester out there.

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  14. I once asked the ( previous)owner what was in the broth. He claimed the only peanut was some crushed peanuts - no peanut butter and that there was tomato purée in the broth.

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