Savory peanut goodness

If I have no plans on a Friday night all I want to do is eat something comforting and delicious. I don't want to spend an hour making something that will take me about 5 minutes to consume. This dish is something you could whip up in about 15 minutes and is so flavor-packed that your tastebuds will be pretty impressed with your Iron Chef-like improvisation abilities.

Typical Thai peanut sauces call for some chili and coconut milk. If you have these ingredients on hand they are going to add an extra depth of flavor to your sauce but they aren't always necessary, especially if you're just making this meal for yourself after a long day (week/month?).

You can substitute the sweet chili sauce for regular hot sauce, though I recommend sriracha to get the right kind of heat. If you don't want to taste bits of ginger you could grate the ginger using a microplane or regular cheese grater's finer holes. I've made this using shrimp paste (bagoong) instead of fish sauce and got a pretty different flavor but still very good.

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Easy Thai Peanut Noodles with Shrimp

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:
2 oz. spaghetti (or noodles of your choice)
3/4 cup cooked frozen shrimp (or fresh shrimp if you have it on hand)
1/4 cup finely diced onions
2 tsp finely diced ginger
2 tbsp peanut oil
salt and pepper for seasoning

Peanut Sauce
1 heaping tbsp creamy peanut butter
2 tsp fish sauce (or 1 1/2 tsp shrimp paste)
2 tsp low-sodium soy sauce
1 tbsp sweet chili sauce (or 1/2 tbsp sriracha, adjust to taste)
2 tbsp peanut oil
1 tbsp sesame oil
2 1/2-3 tbsp coconut milk
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp finely diced or grated ginger
1/2 tsp minced garlic

Directions:
Bring a pot of water to a rolling boil and add the dried spaghetti. While the pasta cooks, cook your shrimp. Sweat the onions and ginger in the peanut oil over medium heat. Season your shrimp with salt and pepper and once the onions are translucent, cook the shrimp with the onions and ginger. 
Prepare your sauce. In a small bow, combine the peanut butter, fish sauce, soy sauce, sweet chili sauce, garlic, and ginger until you reach a thicker vinaigrette-like consistency. You can add more oil or more peanut butter to get the consistency you want. 
Once the pasta is almost al dente, strain them, and add them to the pan with the almost-cooked shrimp. Toss in the sauce and sautee for about 2 minutes. Sprinkle red pepper flakes and fresh (or dried) cilantro and serve.

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xo,
k.