Food with My Dude #25: Kung Pao Noodles

Hi, everyone!

Sorry for skipping out on last week. I wanted to post a dish, but I’m saving it for a later time. So, I’m back this week and I’m excited about this recipe that I found on Creme de la Crumb’s website. The best part is that the noodles took the longest to cook!

Kung Pao is a good meal as is, but I wanted to try and see how it tasted in a noodle setting since that’s my go-to on every menu.

Here are the essential ingredients you’ll need:

• 12 ounces spaghetti, fettuccine, or linguine noodles
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 4 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1-2 tablespoons chili paste
• 1/3 cup cold water
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1/4 cup peanuts [unsalted]
• 2 green onion, thinly sliced

Missing: Chicken, whoops.

We used the fettuccine noodles to mix it up a little. This was my first time using rice vinegar, so I wasn’t sure what to expect with the flavor. Kroger had the seasoned or roasted garlic, and I chose the roasted garlic one [without realizing it until I got home]. It was a good choice, I believe.

Price:

Depending on your choice of protein, the price range will vary. We’ve been buying chicken tenderloins, and they’re much cheaper compared to chicken breasts. We used about five diced tenderloins. There are hardly any veggies in this dish as is, so take that into consideration as well when dressing up the dish.

Measure and Heat Up

By far, this meal was super easy to make. Before you start making the sauce, heat up your water to boil or else you’ll make the mistakes that I did! I ended up having to move the sauce to the side and wait until the noodles were cooked.

So, you could probably start cooking the sauce whenever the water is boiling and you’re about to put the noodles in. The sauce probably takes around five minutes to cook, so you’d have some time to kill or use to prep the additional veggies if you add them.

Anyways, these are the ingredients you want to mix together in the skillet:

• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 4 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 1-2 tablespoons chili paste

I used 1 tablespoon of the chili paste to make sure it wasn’t too spicy for the dude.

While the sauce first heats up, cut up the green onions and whatever veggies you want to add.

The mixture boils fast, so keep your eye on it!

Around this time, the water had started boiling, so I ended up removing the sauce skillet from the eye so it wouldn’t boil and cook to nothing. I got too eager and threw some carrots in the mixture.

Once the noodles were close to being done, the sauce was returned on the eye and was heated up to a boil. Hopefully you’ll avoid this nonsense if you try cooking this meal.

Next, combine in a small bowl or container:

• 1/3 cup cold water
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch

Then, pour in the boiling liquid, and it’ll thicken up in no time!

As you stir the mixture, lower the temperature of the eye. I cooked the cabbage in a separate pot until it softened. The sauce thickened quickly as well, so keep an eye on it!

Pour in the final ingredients:

• 1/4 cup peanuts [unsalted]
• 2 green onion, thinly sliced

Plus, whatever other veggies you decide to add.

Hopefully, your noodles are by cooked now. Drain them, then combine with the sauce mixture.

As I was was mixing the noodles together, this is the moment where I realized that I forgot to include the chicken.

So, that took a few more minutes to cook the tenderloins, but I kept the noodles on low.

I think it turned out better having the noodles on the heat because the sauce coated the noodles more, which you can tell by the look in the picture below. I didn’t even use a filter for the food — which I normally don’t for these posts — but it makes such a difference compared when the noodles were first integrated!

You know me, adding some sesame seeds always seals the deal!

I was so excited about how this meal turned out. Just look at the yumminess!

I was sad to scoop out the noodles and mess up the look of it, but they were so, so good.

Taste: The first spoonful made me worry that the noodles would be too salty, but I got over the first initial bite and it had a really good flavor. I actually like this dish slightly better than the Spicy Thai Noodles that I shared with you all a few weeks ago. I’ve ordered Kung Pao Chicken in restaurants and I can say that this one mimics it pretty well, if not better.

I think it was the rice vinegar that really brought the flavor of it. I see it in a lot of dishes that I’ve had my eye on, but never took the initiative to buy it. So now, no excuses!

My only regret is not putting more veggies in this meal. I absolutely love the noodles, but I really want some other substances in this dish to not make me feel too guilty about the carbs! I probably ate some noodles for lunch too, so they keep piling up.

Rating:

Heat level:

The heat level is adjustable, but with the measurement I used, this is what I estimate to be the heat level.

Are you a fan of Kung Pao Chicken?