Halfway between salad and cold dish, this Asian-Inspired Cold Zoodles recipe is perfect as a light dish, or a starter. You may make it as spicy as you like your food.
Why we ❤️ it
I mentioned this dish to somebody a long time ago, I finally got around to writing a recipe. If you, like me, are a huge fan of Asian cuisine you might recognize this as something very similar to Taiwanese cold noodles.
Back when I lived in Santo Domingo there was a little, hole in the wall restaurant not far from our home. It was brought to my attention by a Taiwanese acquaintance that recommended it highly. He was right. The food, all vegetarian, was excellent, and to top it all, it was inexpensive and the place spotless. It also seemed like the unofficial Taiwanese embassy in Santo Domingo.
Once I left Santo Domingo, I craved this dish all too often, but by then I had decided to limit my carbohydrate intake, training for when my genes catch up with me and I become a diabetic, like almost everybody in my family. But not only did I switch from noodles to zucchini, but I also made a few other changes to the recipe, starting with the use of homemade mambá as the base for the dressing. Hey, there's the Dominican connection!
About this recipe
For some reason, maybe the fact that the "noodles" look almost like the real thing, it tricks my brain into forgetting that I am just eating vegetables. Amazingly, my husband, who seems to despise vegetables in all their incarnations, loved it too. There is a certain something about the creaminess of the peanut sauce, and the spiciness combined with the cold "noodles" that just work together.
This can be served as a refreshing cold noodle salad, or as a light meal in itself. They are equally enjoyable.
Recipe
Cold Zucchini Noodles Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 large zucchinis
- 1 large carrot, , peeled
- 6 cup water
- 5 cup of ice water
- 5 tablespoons of mambá
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce (low-sodium)
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- ⅓ cup of toasted, , unsalted peanuts, chopped finely
Instructions
Make "noodles": Slice the zucchini with a potato peeler. Discard the top and bottom slices that are almost all peel. Arrange the slices one on top of the other, and cut into very fine strips with a knife. I also own a cutter (Amazon affiliate link) that makes making vegetable noodles a piece of cake.Repeat the same process with the carrot.- Blanch "noodles": Boil water in a pot. When it breaks a boil add the carrots. Cook over high heat for 30 seconds. Remove from the heat and add the zucchini. Let it rest for 30 seconds. Remove the zucchini and carrots from the hot water and place them in the ice water. Remove the water and let the carrots and zucchini rest on a paper towel.
- Mix: Combine the mambá with the soy sauce and vinegar.Place the zucchini and carrot in a bowl, mix dressing in.
- Chill: Place in the refrigerator and chill before serving. When it's time to serve sprinkle with the chopped peanuts
Nutrition
Nutritional information is calculated automatically based on ingredients listed. Please consult your doctor if you need precise nutritional information.
