Peanut Szechaun Sauce

This sauce is a great base and could be used in a variety of recipes. I typically use this over buckwheat noodles, with some shittake mushrooms and steam broccoli.

Peanut Szechaun Sauce

1/2 cup peanut butter
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp sugar
hot sauce, chili sauce or cayenne pepper
1 tbsp hoisin sauce
2 cups soy milk (or more as needed)

In a 4 cup measuring cup, or small bowl, mix together the ingredients. It’s easiest to start with the peanut butter and everything but the soy milk. Once all the other ingredients are thoroughly mixed together, slowly add the soy milk and incorporate into the sauce.

Szechaun Noodles with Mushrooms and Broccoli
Serves 4

2 bundles buckwheat noodles (each bundle is 1″ in diameter)
1 tbsp oil
1 small onion, chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, minced (or more if you like garlic)
1-2 tsp grated ginger
4 cups sliced shittake mushrooms
1 head broccoli, divided into bit size pieces

Cook the noodles according to the directions. These can be cooking while you are cooking the other ingredients. They should be done about the same time.

Start by frying the onions in the oil until soft. Add the garlic and ginger.

Add the mushrooms and mix around so they get coated with the garlic and ginger. If the pan gets to dry, add a couple tablespoons of water as necessary. This will keep the mushrooms from getting stuck to the pan. The mushrooms can cook for about 10 minutes.

When the noodles are almost cooked, add the broccoli and 2-3 tablespoons of water to the mushrooms. The water will steam the broccoli and loosen and stuck bits of mushrooms on the bottom.

Once the broccoli has cooked for a couple of minutes, add the sauce and more soy milk if needed. Sometimes the sauce will be too thick and more soy milk is necessary. Add in the noodles, mix well and serve.

Many substitutions can be made with this dish, including tempeh, red peppers, fried tofu. Any type of noodle will work as well, experiment and make the dish your own.