Asian fish and peanut sauce noodles - easy dinner recipe. Here I cooked black cod fish and combined it with fettuccine noodles coated with the homemade peanut sauce. Everything is made from scratch. The peanut sauce here is very simple and is somewhat of a cross between Pad Thai and drunken noodles.
I love the idea of combining fish with pasta, but not all pasta and fish combinations work well in real life. What I found, however, is that using Asian flavors to create a base sauce for pasta and fish is always a win. For example, if you haven't yet tried my recipe for Asian salmon and noodles with snow peas and mushrooms - please do! It's really good and ridiculously easy to make, it remains one of my top recipes of choice for making dinner at the end of the hard work day. And now, let me introduce you to my other recent favorite, Asian fish and peanut sauce noodles (black cod with peanut sauce fettuccine):
This recipe is also very easy to make, and, let's face it, you can't really go wrong with a peanut sauce and noodles. So, by choosing peanut sauce for my noodles, I was already off to a good start! Then, I just added a high quality fish, black cod in this case. The peanut sauce here is very simple and is somewhat of a cross between Pad Thai and drunken noodles. If you like either one of those dishes you will love this recipe! I make the peanut sauce by first combining fish sauce, honey (or brown sugar if you don't have honey), rice vinegar and red pepper flakes in a pan and heating the ingredients until they all mix together, and honey becomes liquid and easy to stir. Then I add some coconut milk and just a tablespoon of red curry paste - I like to use a very spicy one, such as of Mae Ploy brand, but Thai Kitchen brand will work too. Finally, I add a very creamy peanut butter - I used Skippy brand in this recipe. You don't want to add "real" or homemade peanut butter because it will not be able to blend in as well, use Skippy or Jiffy brands istead for guaranteed results. Stir this peanut butter mixture on low-medium heat until everything is well combined:
Then, I cook rice stick noodles or fettuccine pasta (if you don't have rice noodles) according to package instructions and add to the sauce:
Then, the only thing you have left to do is to sear fish fillets on very high heat and make a very simple and quick glaze to pour over the fish. Searing the fish is very easy as long as you get your skillet really hot. Only when the skillet is very hot do you add a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, which should immediately sizzle and even smoke a bit. Then you add fish fillets seasoned with salt and pepper, without crowding them, and sear for about 2 minutes on each side.
What's great about this recipe is that you are not limited to a certain type of white fleshed fish. I cooked black cod for this recipe, which is what you see on these photos - because I have lots of it in my freezer, and I find black cod to be very forgiving and impossible to screw up while cooking: it's a very flaky and buttery fish, and it does not dry out easily. But, in reality, you can use any other white fish such as tilapia, sea bass, halibut, mahi mahi, etc.
Asian fish and peanut sauce noodles
Ingredients
Ingredients for peanut sauce and noodles:
- ¼ cup fish sauce
- ⅓ cup honey
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes or to taste
- ¼ cup creamy peanut butter (Skippy creamy peanut butter works well)
- ¼ cup coconut milk
- 1 tablespoon red curry paste
- 4 oz fettuccine (gluten free or regular)
Ingredients for the glaze:
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar or honey
- 2 tablespoons lime juice freshly squeezed
- 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
Ingredients for cooking the fish:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 24 oz black cod or other white flesh fish (tilapia, halibut, mahi mahi, sea bass)
- salt and pepper
- ¼ cup green onions chopped
Instructions
Make the peanut sauce noodles:
- Mix first 4 ingredients for the peanut sauce in a large pan, heat it up on low-medium heat, stirring to melt honey. Then add peanut butter, coconut milk and red curry paste, continuing to stir until very creamy. If it is a little bit watery – that’s fine.
- Cook rice noodles or fettuccine according to package instructions. Add noodles to the peanut sauce, keep it on warm (if you have that setting) or off the heat – otherwise too much liquid from peanut sauce will evaporate
How to make the glaze:
- To make the glaze: combine 2 tablespoons of brown sugar or honey, 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice, 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar in small sauce pan, cook on medium-high heat until the glaze thickens slightly. Set aside and keep covered while you cook fish:
How to cook fish:
- Season fish on both sides with salt and pepper. Heat a large skillet on high heat until very hot. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil – it should sizzle immediately. Add fish fillets to the skillet without crowding them, and sear about 2 minutes on each side. I’ve used black cod but any other white fish will work too.
- To serve, place a scoop of peanut sauce noodles in the middle of the plate, top with the fish fillet, pour some glaze over, making sure you have enough glaze for other fish fillets. Sprinkle with chopped green onions or chives on top, if desired.
Nutrition
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed. It should not be used as a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Oops, in previous comment, I used peanut oil (not peanut sauce) to cook the tilapia and baby bok choy. Can you make that change for me?
Hi Julia, thank you for posting this recipe on the web. My wife loves Asian-style meals, and I was looking for something new to try. I made the dish last night, using fresh udon noodles and tilapia. A few minor changes I made: After seasoning the tilapia (including a bit of Chinese five spice and cayenne) I very lightly floured the filets. Also I included seared baby bok choy, as I only had about 1/2 to 2/3 pound of the tilapia. Also I used peanut sauce to cook the fish and the baby bok choy. I need to say that the peanut sauce in your recipe is really delicious, and I love how it thickened up with a brief boil. My wife loved it, and I'll make it again.
Steve, thank you for taking the time to share such a positive comment 🙂 Glad you tried this recipe and enjoyed it! Love the addition of seared baby bok choy and that you used peanut oil to cook the fish - that sounds delicious.
I made this couple of times. I use brown rice fettuccine, it works great. Thanks for the recipe!
Hi can we use almond butter? Daughter is allergic to peanut butter.
Never tried it with almond butter but I love the flavor, and it might work in this recipe!
Loved this! Made exactly as written with the exception of only having chunky peanut butter. Plan on adding to my menu as my husband caught a lot of fish on his deep sea fishing trip. I wonder how this sauce would be with chicken or pork? Even the glaze was exceptional.
WONDERFUL RECIPE.
Pamela, I am so glad you liked this! So jealous that you have a lot of freshly caught fish. 🙂 I think this sauce will taste great both with chicken and pork.
So Salty. Could not eat it.