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Eggplant, Mushrooms and Spinach Noodles with Spicy Peanut Sauce

Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
Total Time1 hour
Servings: 4 adult serves
Author: Gina @ The Passionate Pantry

Ingredients

INGREDIENTS FOR SAUCE

  • 40 g dried Shiitake mushrooms
  • 250 mls boiling water

  • 2 garlic cloves peeled
  • 40 g ginger peeled
  • 30 g coconut oil

  • 150 g Shiitake soaking water
  • 120 g 100% crunchy peanut butter
  • 60 g dark soy sauce
  • 30 g dark muscovado sugar or dark brown sugar
  • 30 g rice wine vinegar
  • 2 tbls sweet chili sauce or 1 tbls Sambol Oelek or Sriracha hot chilli sauce

INGREDIENTS FOR NOODLES

  • 1 large eggplant 500g weight at least, cut into julienne
  • 6 large mushrooms thinly sliced (I used portobello)
  • 40 g soaked Shiitake mushrooms stems removed if tough, thinly sliced
  • 100 g baby spinach leaves

  • 2 serves noodles of choice I used 200g Udon noodles

  • 2 tbls coconut oil

FOR SERVING

  • Freshly sliced red chilli
  • Freshly sliced spring onions
  • Chopped toasted peanuts
  • Finely chopped basil leaves and / or coriander leaves
  • Lemon wedge per serve

Instructions

METHOD FOR SAUCE

  • Place dried Shiitake mushrooms into a glass bowl, pour over boiling water, allow to soak for 30 minutes, drain mushrooms through sieve pressing against the mushrooms to extract as much water as possible, keep the water for the sauce, and put mushrooms aside to use later (whilst the sauce is cooking remove any tough stems from the mushrooms and thinly slice them ready for later)
  • Place garlic, ginger and coconut oil into TM bowl and chop 3 seconds / speed 7
  • Scrape down sides and sauté 5 minutes / Veroma / speed 1 /MC off
  • Add Shiitake soaking water (you should have at least 150g), peanut butter, soy sauce, sugar, rice wine vinegar and chilli sauce of choice and blend 5 seconds / reverse / speed 4 (if using smooth peanut paste then you don’t need to use Reverse function), scrape around bowl
  • Cook 5 minutes / 100 / Reverse / speed 1 / MC on
  • Put aside in another container until ready to add to veggies and noodles

METHOD FOR VEGGIES / NOODLES

  • Prepare your garnishes and put aside (this can be done whilst the Shiitake mushrooms are soaking)
  • Prepare fresh mushrooms and put aside
  • Wash eggplant, leave skin on, cut in half and then into quarters, then slice each quarter into thin slices from top to bottom, place a few slices on top of each other and cut into thin strips to resemble a noodle
  • Continue until all the eggplant is done (try to keep the slices roughly the same size so that they cook evenly)
  • Prepare your chosen noodles as per package instructions and put aside
  • Place coconut oil in a large frying pan and heat to medium (I use a large wok and like to heat it for a couple of minutes before adding the eggplant)
  • Add the eggplant noodles and sauté 6 to 7 minutes until they start to soften, turning every couple of minutes (you will see that they will slowly become translucent and more noodle-like as they cook down)
  • Add the fresh and Shiitake mushrooms and continue cooking for another 6 to 7 minutes until the eggplant and mushrooms are soft (taste the eggplant to ensure it is done)
  • Add the spinach leaves and stir through, then add the noodles and sauce and stir through lightly until everything is coated with the sauce
  • Cook for a couple of minutes until everything is heated through
  • Serve garnished with chilli, spring onions, peanuts, herbs and lemon wedge

Notes

Prepping the eggplant takes about 20 minutes so I do understand this may not appeal to some, but the dish - even minus the eggplant – is fabulous. It took me a little while to get the balance of the sauce right and on its own with the mushrooms, spinach and noodles (double the noodles to make up for the non use of eggplant) it is delicious. So if you are not wishing to worry about the eggplant forge ahead with this recipe and use extra noodles instead.
In terms of noodles I tried a variety and settled on Udon noodles for their texture, thickness, and ability to absorb the sauce and allow it to shine by not adding much flavour in their own right. They also looked perfect in the dish.
In the method you soak the Shiitake mushrooms first as you will need the soaking liquid for the sauce. This takes 30 minutes and will give you time to prepare your garnishes and some of the other ingredients for the dish.
The spiciness (heat) of the dish will depend on the chilli sauce you use … I have tried all three options given and they will all give you a slightly different result.
I didn’t need to add extra salt or pepper to the dish before serving, but I do love lemon juice on just about everything, so put a cheek of lemon on each plate for people to squeeze over their dish … we adored this little addition!
You can use either smooth or crunchy peanut butter … to make the process easier I used store-bought organic 100% crunchy peanut paste.