Asian Noodle Salad Recipe

Perfect for Picnic and Long Road Trip

Asian noodle salad recipe inspired by the Korean cuisine and fits for all occasions.

Total Time: 30 Minutes
Prep Time: 10 Minutes  
Active Cook Time: 20 Minutes  
Serving: 6-8

Every summer, there is at least a long road trip for my family to take for attending family union or potluck dinner. These trips are usually about 4 hours drive for a one-way trip. It is long enough to drive, but not long enough to fly. Throughout the years, I learned several lessons in many hard ways:

1. Salad would be warm or soggy by the time we arrive at the destination, even though we pack it with plenty of ice packs.
2. Hot food would be overcooked if there is an electric outlet to plug in inside the car. Or, it would be cold.
3. Buying some store-bought food such as chips, cookies or some pre-cooked hot dishes like pepper and sausages feel like anybody can do it. Most of the time someone has done it even though you were the first one to raise your hand of bringing that kind of food. So, why bother?

Those are my experiences after many years of attending events as mentioned. They are also the reasons that I tried a different approach and tested this out multiple times. Ultimately, this recipe worked super well that it made everybody happy.

TIPS & TRICKS

Special Feature of This Recipe

You may wonder what’s so special about this recipe. Why does it fit for all occasions?

This Asian noodle salad recipe can be served hot, room temperature or cold. Obviously, this means you can bring it along for a long road trip. There is no mayo that you need to worry about when the weather is super hot. Of course, you want to pack with some ice packs during summer time to keep it cool. In winter time, all you need is to pack and go.

Family-friendly and easy to bring along for any outdoor activities and long road trip.

Is It Family-Friendly?

Since I mentioned that this noodle salad is great for picnic and potluck, does that mean it is family-friendly? Given young children and the elderly are always in this kind of events, the recipe uses very small amount of Korean chili pepper flakes, comparatively speaking, which barely brings in the spiciness and heat into the dish. So, yes, it is family-friendly.

Of course, some families are all about hot and spicy food. You know your family better than anybody else. So, make the needed adjustment for different groups and events.

Adding Kimchi?!

You may ask, "Since this recipe was inspired by the Korean cuisine and used Korean pepper flakes, should I add Kimchi into the noodles?"

Yes, for all hot and spicy food lovers, but depending on the timing. Say you are going to serve this noodle salad recipe in a cookout at home, yes, you can add it while you assemble all ingredients together.

But if you are bringing this dish along for a long road trip like I did multiple times in the past, hold the kimchi until you get to the final destination. Why? The heat in the car will trap the vinegar and cabbage smell. The hotter it is, the more smelly you get. It can be very tough. So, in that case, only add kimchi before serving.

Do not underestimated the crunch of canned bean sprouts bringing into this dish.

Fresh or Canned Bean Sprouts

This recipe used canned bean sprouts. So, what’s the difference between fresh and canned?

First of all, let me share with you some interesting facts about bean sprouts use in Chinese cuisine.

In America, bean sprouts provide a crunch in a dish because plenty of people love the mixture of soft and crunchy texture together.

However, bean sprouts in any Chinese dish are for bumping up the volume of the food. This vegetable is insanely cheap in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and many other Chinese communities. As a result, restaurants use the cheapest ingredient to increase the volume of the dish of food.

For this dish, bean sprouts are for the crunch. Regardless fresh or canned ones, it is always best to put the vegetable into boiling water to blanch. It will kill the gem for the fresh one or get rid of the canning smell of the canned one.

Depending on your local store, it can be difficult to find fresh bean sprouts. I must say that this brand of canned bean sprouts is really amazing. (No, they didn't pay me for advertising. But I do stand behind products with great quality.) The texture is just like the fresh one. It is still very crunchy, not soggy at all. So, other than this dish, I highly recommend to keep a couple extra cans in the pantry for some last minute meal plan change.

Asian Noodle Salad Recipe and Instructions

Ingredients
1 Seedless Cucumber
2 Cans (14.5 oz each and strained) Bean Sprouts
1 lb Spaghetti (or any long pasta)
1 Scallion (chopped and optional)
1 tbsp Toasted Sesame Seeds (optional)
1 tsp Salt
1 tbsp Vegetable Oil
Salt and Pepper to taste

Cucumber Marinade
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Sugar
1/4 tsp Black Pepper
1 tbsp Korean Pepper Flakes (aka Gochugaru)
3 tbsp Chinese Light Soy Sauce
1 tbsp Chinese Dark Soy Sauce

Instructions

1. In a big mixing bowl, combine the cucumber marinade ingredients and seasonings together. Put it aside.
2. Slice cucumber about 1/4” thick.
3. Then, stack up the cucumber slices and cut into 1/4-1-3” thick strips, like matchsticks.
4. Transfer cucumber strips to the marinade and mix well. Cover with lid and chill overnight.
5. On the day of serving or assembling everything together, bring a pot of water to a boil. Add 1 tsp salt and 1 tbsp oil. Then, stir in spaghetti into the boiling water. Turn off heat and cover to let the remaining heat to cook for about 16 minutes. Just a little bit under al dente.
6. While waiting, transfer bean sprouts into a strainer. Use about 2 cups of hot pasta water to pour through the bean sprouts.
7. Strain pasta and transfer noodles back into the pot again. No heat. Stir in a tablespoonful each of light soy sauce and dark soy sauce. Salt and pepper to taste.
8. Add cucumber with juice and bean sprouts. Garnish with scallions and sesame seeds and enjoy immediately!
9. Transfer noodles to a container and let cool in room temperature before chilling in the fridge for any outdoor activities.

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Asian Noodle Salad Recipe Steps with Photos

In a mixing bowl, combine cucumber marinade together

Once marinade is done. Put it aside.

Thinly slice cucumber

Stack up the slices and cut them into small strips

Transfer cucumber into the mixing bowl with marinade

Mix and combine well. Cover the bowl with lid or plastic wrap. Chill it overnight.

On the day of assembling everything together, blanch bean sprouts with boiling water.

Cook pasta and mix the noodles with the seasonings.

Once noodles are well seasoned, combined the rest of the ingredients together.

Enjoy it warm, room temperature or cold.

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