These are very addictive – I could eat a whole bowl of them. The sauce recipe really makes too much for the amount of spaghetti, so freeze what you don’t use and you’ve got a quick dinner another time! It works well as either a side dish or as a main course if you add veggies and chicken. Yum, yum, yum! Update -- Lauren loves these so much that they are in her rotation. I often make them with Jean's Thai Grilled Beef Salad that has cucumbers in it, which I did last night when I made them and took the above picture. They are still as yummy as they were when I originally blogged them back in 2011!!!
1 lb. dried spaghetti
Salt to season pasta water
½ c. roasted sesame oil
7/8 c. soy sauce
½ c. unseasoned rice vinegar
½ c. Chinese sesame paste (or Tahini*)
¼ c. natural peanut butter**
¼ c. sugar
¼ c. finely grated ginger
8 t. minced garlic
8 t. chili-garlic paste (or to taste)
Optional Garnishes:
Half a cucumber, julienned
1 c. chopped roasted peanuts
Shredded carrots
Bring a large pot of water to boil; salt well. Add noodles and cook until al dente. Drain and rinse with cold water; drain again and toss with a splash of sesame oil.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the sesame oil, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame paste, peanut butter, sugar, ginger, garlic and chili-garlic paste. Pour the sauce over the noodles a little at a time until the noodles are well coated but not swimming in it -- probably only about half of the sauce this recipe makes. (Freeze the other half of the sauce for another meal.) Toss well. Let the noodles marinate in the refrigerator for several hours before serving. Let them come to cool room temperature before serving or they will be sticky. Leftovers also keep well in the frig for 2-3 days.
Serve it like this if you are using it as a side dish. If you want it as your main course, use any combination of the garnishes, and consider adding cooked chicken and mixed greens.
*The Chinese sesame paste is made of toasted sesame seeds; it is not the same as Tahini, the Middle Eastern paste made of plain, untoasted sesame. However, if you can't find the sesame paste Tahini is a good substitute.
**If you use regular creamy peanut butter you might want to cut back a little on the sugar.
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