For years now, I have been listening to an old coworker talk about his love of sesame noodles. It really was more like an obsession. After making them this week, I’ve started to understand. While this version is probably a lighter, healthier, and less traditional version, I think he would be more than happy to have some. Paired with some delicious Asian-inspired chicken meatballs, you can’t go wrong. Break out the chopsticks!
Sesame Noodles
1/2 box of whole wheat spaghetti or buckwheat soba
1 shallot, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 scallion, chopped with extra for garnish
1/4 cup peanut butter
4 tablespoons sesame oil
1 teaspoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon mirin
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon Teriyaki sauce
1/4 cup sake, rice wine, or apple cider (non-traditional I know, but it was what I had in the fridge)
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 teaspoon sesame seeds for garnish
Cook the pasta according to package instructions in salted water. Meanwhile, saute the shallot, garlic, and scallion in half the sesame oil until softened. Add the peanut butter, fish sauce, mirin, vinegar, Teriyaki sauce, and sake/cider. Stir to combine and let cook with about 1/2 cup of pasta water for 5 minutes.
Off the heat, add the pasta along with the rest of the sesame oil and the lemon. Serve warm or at room temperature, garnished with sesame seeds and scallions.
When making meatballs, the MOST important part is making sure you use enough breadcrumbs. No one likes rock hard meatballs, which comes from only using meat. If you can’t make your own (and it’s REALLY worth it, trust me), at least use some packaged breadcrumbs and soak them in a little milk. Ok. I’m done with the caps lock.
Chicken Meatballs
1 pound ground chicken
1 scallion, minced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 cup fresh breadcrumbs, not ground too finely
1 egg
1 teaspoon plus 2 tablespoons mirin
1 teaspoon plus 3 tablespoons teriyaki sauce
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
1 teaspoon fish sauce
1/2 cup dried breadcrumbs if needed
2 tablespoons sesame oil
Combine the chicken, egg, breadcrumbs, scallion, garlic, half the ginger, and teaspoons of mirin and teriyaki sauce in a large bowl. Add dry breadcrumbs if it seems too wet to stay in loose balls. Roll into tablespoon-sized balls and saute in the sesame oil until they brown on all sides. Remove to a baking dish.
Add the remaining ginger, mirin, teriyaki, vinegar, and fish sauce to the pan and stir together. Pour over the meatballs and bake in the oven at 375 degrees for about 10 minutes or until the meatballs are cooked through.
This sounds and looks really good and can be a light meal. Got to try it, thanks.
What a wonderful & well-flavoured meal!!
A delightful combo fo real flavours!
This sounds delicious – I love peanut sauces.
That looks very tasty. Lovely photos. I like the idea of chicken meatballs too.
Best,
Conor
omg, I am making this.
Thanks Rose!
I always have all the ingredients on this list but I’ve never put them together this way. What a great idea for a weeknight meal. I am going try this.
Sounds right up my street, I’ve been meaning to make chicken meatballs for weeks now
These sounds good! I will make this for dinner sometimes this week. Thank you for sharing!
These look and sound delicious! Totally gonna have to give them a try. Thanks for sharing!
M&M – thank you for checking out my blog & signing up to follow! I love this idea for Asian Chicken Meatballs to go with sesame noodles – I’m always looking for a protein to go with that. I just made them last week with dry fried string beans for the first time. I already want to try the meatballs the fava beans and the avocado salsa – I’ll be back!
Best,
The Unnatural Cook, Nancy B.
Thanks! Enjoy!
Oh… and the slow roasted pork too. How could I leave that off?