Lately I have really been getting more into seafood and Asian fusion dishes. I used to be a major shrimp skeptic, but now I really enjoy it! It’s in my Filipino heritage, I guess! This garlic shrimp and veggies with rice noodles is so simple, and most of it comes together in the pan! The peanut-lime sauce is just made by a blender, so nothing fancy, but SO TASTY. The lime gives it a great pucker but it’s also wonderfully savory. (It also makes a great salad dressing!)
This is a fun date night recipe because one person can chop/grate and the other can sauté! I made a similar recipe with my buddy, Maddie, a month ago from Half Baked Harvest’s website, although her recipe used coconut milk for the sauce, and in contrast, we’ve got a special, peanut-lime saucy base!
The Super Easy Sauce
I like things easy. Like plopping all the ingredients in a blender and magically, sauce appears.
This sauce has lime juice, a jalapeño, grated ginger, grated garlic, fish sauce (try it before you knock it!), red wine vinegar, soy sauce, and peanut butter!!!
Then you drizzle it all over rice noodles. Mmm. It also makes a great dressing!
(Almost) everything goes in the pan
The pattern goes like this: Cook bacon, put it aside. Cook mushrooms in bacon fat, shove them aside. Cook peppers in butter next to mushrooms, then shove them aside. Cook the shrimp in more butter and add garlic! Top with some greens and shove it all on the noodles.
Oh, did I mention the bacon is candied? Now where shall I put that Nobel…
It’s optional, but highly encouraged. Like paying your taxes!
Just kidding. Darn, I need to do my taxes.
Put it all together!!!
- Saucy rice noodles? Check.
- Bacon-ified vegetables and shrimp? Check. Check.
- Easy, healthy, vegetarian-friendly, Lent-friendly dinner? All the checks. Make them out to me, please.
Saucy Peanut-Lime-Garlic Shrimp and Rice Noodles
Ingredients
Sweet and Spicy Bacon
- 4 strips Bacon
- 1/4 tsp Red chili flakes
- 1 tbsp White sugar
- 1 Garlic clove smashed
Peanut-Lime Sauce
- 1/4 cup Fresh lime juice
- 1 tbsp Fish sauce Red Boat
- 1 tbsp Red wine vinegar
- 1 tsp Soy sauce
- 1 tbsp Fresh ginger grated
- 1/4 cup Creamy peanut butter
- 1 Jalapeño, seeds removed
- 3 tbsp Sesame seed oil
- 3 Garlic cloves grated
Shrimp, Noodles, and Veggies
- 8 oz Shitake mushrooms sliced
- Salt and pepper
- 1 Jalapeño, seeds removed chopped
- 1 medium Red bell pepper sliced
- 3 tbsp Salted butter, divided
- 1 tbsp Honey
- 12 oz Shrimp (about 18 pieces) thawed, peeled, deveined
- 3 Garlic cloves grated
- 2.5 oz Spinach or kale (about a handful)
- 8 oz Rice noodles
- Chives or green onions for garnish (optional)
Instructions
Fry Sweet and Spicy Bacon
- Arrange bacon on a plate and rub with smashed garlic. Sprinkle with red chili flakes and sugar.
- Preheat a large frying pan on medium heat. When skillet is hot, add all four bacon strips. Fry until desired crispiness is achieved, about 3-4 minutes per side. Remove bacon from pan and set aside. *Sugared bacon will stick to paper towels!
Boil Water and Pan Fry Veggies and Shrimp
- Boil salted water in a large pot. Once boiling, cook noodles per instructions, typically boiling for about 8 minutes. Drain and return to pot.
- Meanwhile, in the same pan used to fry the bacon, add the sliced shitake mushrooms and salt and pepper as desired, cooking until almost crispy, about 3-5 minutes.
- Shuffle the mushrooms to the side of the pan and add half of the butter (1.5 tbsp) to the center of the pan. When butter has melted, add to it the sliced bell pepper and jalapeño. Season again with salt and pepper, as desired. Cook for another 3 minutes.
- Shuffle the peppers to the side with the mushrooms and add the remaining 1.5 tbsp of butter to the pan. When melted, add all of the shrimp to the pan. Drizzle the honey over the shrimp and season with salt and pepper as desired. Cook until pink, about 2-3 minutes per side. Then add grated garlic, stirring until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Once shrimp is cooked, combine it with the mushrooms and peppers in the pan and add the spinach or kale to it. Stir until greens have wilted, then turn off the heat.
Blend Peanut-Lime Sauce
- Combine lime juice, fish sauce, red wine vinegar, soy sauce, fresh ginger, peanut butter, jalapeño, sesame seed oil, and garlic cloves in a food processor or blender. Blend until smooth.
- Add sauce to cooked rice noodles and toss to coat.
Serve
- Distribute between 3-4 bowls or plates. Serve shrimp and vegetables over saucy rice noodles. Garnish with crumbled bacon and green onions or chives.