Kung pao noodles
Noodles tossed in a sticky, sweet-sour kung pao sauce with crunchy peanuts, peppers, zucchini and edamame, spicy, savory and faster than takeout.
- 30 min total
- 25 min hands-on
- A little more hands-on
- Serves 4
- About $1.81 a serving
- 530 calories
- Good the next day
- Vegan
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 8 oz spaghetti
- 2 tbsp hoisin sauce
- ½ cup peanuts
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
- 4 stalks green onions, sliced, whites and greens kept apart
- 1 red bell pepper, cut into chunks
- 1 zucchini, cut into half-moons
- 2 stalks celery, sliced
- 1 cup frozen shelled edamame, thawed
From your pantry
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp cornstarch
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes
Each serving has about 530 calories, 19 g protein, 65 g carbs and 23 g fat, and costs about $1.81 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No spaghetti? Fettuccine works.
- No green onions? Chives work.
- No red bell peppers? Yellow bell peppers work.
- No zucchini? Yellow squash works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Bring a large pot of water over high heat and cook the spaghetti as the package says. .
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
Drain. Draining means pouring off liquid, like tipping pasta into a colander or spooning extra fat out of the pan. Pour hot grease into a can or jar, not the sink, where it hardens and clogs the pipes.
How you’ll know: Only a few drips are left, and the food isn’t sitting in a puddle.
High heatTimer: 9 min
Meanwhile, the soy sauce, hoisin, vinegar, sugar, cornstarch and 3 tablespoons water in a small bowl.
Whisk. Whisking means beating quickly with a whisk or a fork to blend things together. It smooths out lumps and mixes eggs, oil or sauces evenly.
How you’ll know: It all looks one even color and texture, with no streaks or lumps.
Heat the oil in a large over medium-high heat. Add the pepper flakes and peanuts and stir 1 minute, until the peanuts are .
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Medium-high heatTimer: 1 min
Dolly’s tip: Pull them the second they smell toasty. Burnt chili makes everything bitter.Add the garlic, ginger and green onion whites and stir 30 seconds, .
Fragrant. Fragrant means cooking until you can clearly smell it, usually garlic or spices, often in about 30 seconds. That’s the moment the flavor is ready, just before it can burn.
How you’ll know: You can smell it from a step back, and garlic is pale gold, not brown.
Medium-high heat
Add the pepper, zucchini, celery and edamame and 3 to 4 minutes, until .
Stir-fry. Stir-frying means cooking small pieces fast over high heat in a little oil, stirring almost constantly. It moves quickly, so have everything chopped and ready before the pan gets hot.
How you’ll know: It sizzles loudly the whole time, and the vegetables turn bright and tender-crisp in minutes.
Tender-crisp. Tender-crisp means vegetables cooked until just tender but still with a little snap. They keep their bright color and crunch instead of going soft and dull.
How you’ll know: A fork goes in with slight resistance, and the color is bright, not olive or gray.
High heatTimer: 3 min 30 sec
Stir the sauce again, pour it in with the noodles and 1 to 2 minutes, until glossy and thick. Scatter the green onion tops over and serve.
Toss. Tossing means gently lifting and turning food so everything gets coated, like pasta in sauce or vegetables in oil. It coats every piece evenly without mashing anything.
How you’ll know: Every piece looks glossy or evenly coated, with no dry spots hiding underneath.
High heatTimer: 1 min 30 sec
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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