Rice noodles tossed in a ginger-forward “Asian pesto” that’s based mostly on Hainanese Hen’s ginger shallot sauce. Loopy good, tremendous quick no-cook meal. Weirdly obsessive about how the noodles go inexperienced! Serve heat or chilly – nice for decent days, lunch bins, or any Asian-ish unfold.

Inexperienced Ginger Rice Noodles – with hen, or not
I checked out my current recipe line up and realised it was all yellow and brown (roasts, chocolate, cheese, cake!). So I headed to the retailers with noble leafy-green intentions however acquired fully derailed by inexperienced onions on sale ($2 for a large bunch!). 💡Lightbulb second: Asian pesto, aka Hainanese Hen Ginger Shallot Sauce, however in noodle type!
Not precisely the crisp leafy dish I deliberate, however hey, I acquired some inexperienced again into the feed. Effectively completed me! 😂
What this tastes like – “Asian pesto” actually is the perfect description! A number of inexperienced onions blitzed with a number of ginger, a little bit of garlic, soy sauce for salt, impartial oil and a little bit of vinegar so it’s not too oil-heavy. The raw-onioniness (is {that a} phrase??!) of inexperienced onion and sharpness of ginger mellows with the oil, turning right into a recent, crazy-good sauce that makes the whole lot it touches immediately extra thrilling. Immediately, it’s noodles!


Elements in Inexperienced Ginger Rice Noodles
Right here’s what you want. I added hen for protein to have as a meal, however as a facet dish I’d swap it out for a vegetable. Cucumber would prime my listing, lower in baton type. It’ll look nice!
1. inexperienced ginger sauce
As talked about above, that is tailored from the tasty Ginger Shallot Sauce that accompanies Hainanese Hen (sure, sure, someday quickly, I must share mine!). Significantly bigger quantity, and in addition I swap some oil with vinegar, else I feel the noodles will likely be too oily. I additionally use a stick blender as an alternative of mincing the whole lot utilizing a knife. A lot sooner – and truly more practical to extract flavour out of the whole lot. 🙂

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Inexperienced onion – Typically known as shallots right here in Australia, scallions within the US and Canada, spring onions within the UK and Europe. It may be so complicated! They’re the lengthy skinny inexperienced stems that doesn’t have a bulbous lump on the backside (we name these spring onions right here in Australia). To keep away from any confusion, see photograph above!
You want loads – 4 to five massive stems (ie with 3 or so stems on every stem). 4 cups as soon as chopped into items that we then blitz. That is what makes this Asian pesto inexperienced!
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Ginger – A great quantity of recent ginger, for daring ginger flavour the Hainanese Hen Ginger Shallot Sauce is thought and liked for.
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Gentle soy sauce – So as to add salt into the sauce to show it right into a dressing. Any common or all-purpose soy sauce can be utilized, or tamari (for gluten-free). Don’t use darkish soy sauce (a lot too intense, it’ll break the sauce) or kecap manis (too candy!). Extra on completely different soy sauces right here.
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Rice vinegar – This provides a contact of tang to chop by way of the oil, and much like the soy sauce, it turns an oil-based sauce right into a dressing. You’ll be able to’t simply use oil for the liquid, it makes it too oily!
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Grapeseed oil – This oil is created from grape seeds and has a clear flavour that doesn’t tasty as “oily” like different impartial flavoured oils do. It’s a typical oil alternative for raw dressings the place different flavours are meant to shine, one which I take advantage of fairly frequently in Asian dressings. Substitute with any impartial flavoured oil, like canola, vegetable, or avocado oil.
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Salt and white pepper – White slightly than black pepper is usually extra widespread in Asian cooking, although truthfully, it’s not a giant deal right here to modify it with black pepper.
2. NOODLES, CHICKEN, Toppings
Somewhat crunch from crispy retailer purchased shallots and somewhat vinegary-spice from sriracha are the right finishes for this bowl of gingery goodness!

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Cooked hen (elective) – Use a retailer purchased roast hen, or poach your personal utilizing my foolproof poached hen technique (simply go away the hen in boiled water with the range turned off, it’s not possible to overcook. Works 100%, each single time).
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Dried rice noodles – I used skinny rice stick noodles, the type that’s flat that makes a floor for the Inexperienced Ginger Sauce to cling to. Particularly, I take advantage of these ones – Changs Pad Thai Rice Noodles, sure I take advantage of them for Pad Thai too! I feel rice noodles work higher than yellow noodles as they’ve a extra impartial flavour so it actually lets the flavour of the sauce shine, and the inexperienced color stands out extra towards white.
Having stated that, I’d not hesitate to make this with any kind of noodles – dried, recent, skinny, thick, yellow, white, glass, vermicelli, ramen. I’d in all probability even use pasta, if that’s all I had. 🙂 See recipe card for steering on amount for several types of noodles.
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Crispy fried shallots – Retailer purchased, pantry important. Crispy, salty, oily little bits of goodness that I sprinkle on “the whole lot” – salads, scrambled eggs, soups, stir fries, fried rice! Discover them within the Asian aisle of normal grocery shops although cheaper at Asian shops.
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Sriracha – Somewhat vinegary spicy sauce goes so effectively with the recent flavours occurring right here! Additionally paying homage to the chilli sauce that accompanies the Ginger Shallot Sauce for Hainanese Hen (besides, at the moment we simply squirt from a bottle slightly than making it from scratch).

Learn how to make Inexperienced Ginger Noodles
The Inexperienced Ginger Sauce is made like pesto – blitzed with a stick blender. Meals processor doesn’t work – the feel of inexperienced onion simply isn’t suited to whirling blades, they get caught on the bottom and sides an excessive amount of.
1. Inexperienced Ginger Sauce first

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Blitz half 1 – Blitz 1/4 of the inexperienced onion with the ginger, garlic, vinegar and water till the ginger and garlic are pureed, about 10 to fifteen seconds. The inexperienced onion will likely be largely pureed too, that’s what makes the noodles inexperienced. It’s best to make use of a jug so the pinnacle of the stick blender is immersed although a tall bowl will work okay too.
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Blitz half 2 – Then add the remainder of the inexperienced onions and soy sauce, then blitz till all of the inexperienced onion is pesto-like, about one other 15 seconds.
No stick blender? That’s okay! Finely mince the inexperienced onion with a knife (you’ll want 2 cups tightly packed as soon as finely minced) and grate the ginger and garlic utilizing a microplane. That is the standard approach Ginger Shallot Sauce is made for Hainanese Hen.

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Stir the oil and salt in. DO NOT BLITZ! The sheer energy of the stick blender will emulsify the oil with the liquids and switch the sauce right into a pale inexperienced smoothie. How do you assume I do know this??!! 🫣
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Put aside for 10 minutes. It is a key step! The sharpness of uncooked inexperienced onion and ginger mellows out, the flavours meld collectively and the inexperienced onion softens and sweats which makes the sauce looser.
Making forward – The sauce will get somewhat darker with time, although nothing like basil pesto does (which works a green-black if uncovered). It’s greatest to toss by way of noodles inside, say, an hour of constructing the sauce. As soon as tossed, the inexperienced color is preserved fairly effectively.
2. toss, toss, toss!

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Put together noodles per the packet instructions. Mine says to soak in boiling water for 10 minutes. Drain in a colander then give it a rinse beneath faucet water to rinse off extra starch. This helps maintain the noodles slippery when tossed with the sauce slightly than clumping up right into a tangle.
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Toss the noodles with the Inexperienced Ginger Sauce first. Toss effectively till the noodles flip inexperienced! Then add the hen and toss once more. If wanted, add a tablespoon of water at a time to loosen the noodles (or oil).
TIP: It’s necessary to toss the noodles and sauce with out the hen first. Should you put the sauce and hen in on the identical time, a lot of the sauce will get caught up within the hen and also you don’t get sufficient on the noodles.

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Heat or chilly – If you wish to serve these noodles heat, serve right away. If you wish to have these chilly, simply go away the noodles for quarter-hour till they cool to room temperature (even an hour!). It’s nice both approach, and I’ve somewhat chatter on this under the photograph – it is likely one of the nice issues about these noodles!
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Serve – Divide between bowls. Prime with a squirt or dousing of sriracha (as you please!) and a beneficiant pile of crispy fried shallots. Then dig in!


Uncommon dish that’s nice heat OR chilly
There are only a few dishes on this world that I actually, really, hand-on-heart imagine are simply pretty much as good chilly or heat. Actually, I can’t consider any off the highest of my head – for those who can, please remark under! (No, pizza doesn’t make the lower!! Sandwiches don’t depend! 😆)
These noodles, nonetheless, are genuinely nice whether or not heat or at room temperature. When heat, the aroma and flavour of the ginger and inexperienced onion blooms. When it’s chilly, it’s recent and brilliant.
Take pleasure in as a meal on a scorching summer time day, take it to picnics, pack into lunchboxes. Make some for at the moment and maintain leftovers for tomorrow, realizing you possibly can get pleasure from them chilly or reheat them. Hope you’re keen on them! – N x ❤️
PS Additionally! Due to the explanations outlined above, I see this as a terrific facet dish for Asian spreads, particularly gatherings as a result of one batch of this recipe is sufficient to be a facet for 8 to 10 folks and it may be made forward. Swap the hen for cucumber to make it a veg-starch facet. I’ve popped instructions within the recipe card notes.
Watch learn how to make it
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Inexperienced Ginger Rice Noodles
Prep: 15 minutes
Sauce resting: 10 minutes
Predominant
Asian
Servings4
Faucet or hover to scale
Elements
Ginger shallot sauce (Observe 3)
Forestall display screen from sleeping
Directions
ABBREVIATED RECIPE:
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Blitz (pulsing) 1/3 of the inexperienced onion with ginger, garlic, vinegar and water till ginger is pureed. Then blitz in remaining inexperienced onion and soy till pesto-like. Stir in oil and salt, put aside 10 minutes. Toss with noodles and hen, serve with crispy shallots and sriracha!
Ginger shallot sauce first:
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Blitz – Put 1/3 of the inexperienced onions in a tall jug (or deep bowl), prime with the ginger, garlic, vinegar and water. Blitz with a stick blender till the ginger and garlic is pureed (~ 15 seconds). Add the remaining inexperienced onions and soy sauce. Blitz till all of the inexperienced onion is finely chopped however do not let it turn into inexperienced smoothie, it ought to be a pesto-like consistency. Asian pesto! 🙂 (Observe 4 if you do not have a stick blender)
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Stir and put aside – Stir within the oil, salt and pepper. Then put aside for 10 minutes to let the flavours meld when you rehydrate the noodles.
Toss and eat!
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Toss the noodles with the Inexperienced Ginger Sauce first. Toss effectively so it coats the noodles properly. Then add the hen, toss effectively once more. (Should you add hen first, an excessive amount of sauce clings to it). Loosen with a contact of water if wanted.
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Heat or chilly serving – If serving the noodles chilly, put aside for quarter-hour+ to let the noodles cool. The flavours will proceed to develop. If serving heat, serve right away.
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Serve – Divide between bowls, drizzled with sriracha, sprinkle with crispy shallots, eat!
Recipe Notes:
1. Noodles – I like dried rice noodle sticks for this as a result of the impartial flavour lets the Inexperienced Ginger Sauce take centre stage and there’s a distinguished floor space to point out off the inexperienced color.
However you possibly can actually use any noodles for this. Similar weight for dried noodles (and even pasta – actually!), or 400g/14oz for recent noodles from the fridge.
2. Soy sauce – Don’t use darkish soy sauce, it’s far too intense and can break your dressing! Use gentle soy, any all-purpose soy or tamari.
3. Inexperienced onion = typically understood common identify for the lengthy inexperienced stems with no white bulb on the base recognized by numerous names all over the world:
- Shallots – one other identify in Australia (within the US, shallots = the mini onions which we name eschalots in Australia!)
- Scallions – US identify
- Spring onions – Widespread identify within the UK
Confused? Don’t blame you! See the Elements photograph in submit, or the video. You’ll want 4 to five massive stems with 3 or so stems on every. Sure, A LOT!
4. No stick blender? Sharpen your knives! Finely chop the inexperienced onion (you’ll want 2 cups tightly packed as soon as finely chopped), use a microplane for the garlic and ginger. That is the standard approach Ginger Shallot Sauce is made anyway!
Leftovers retains 3 days within the fridge. Convey to room temperature earlier than consuming (fridge chilly = laborious noodles), or flippantly heat within the microwave.
Vitamin per serving, assuming 4 servings.
Vitamin Data:
Energy: 580cal (29%)Carbohydrates: 55g (18%)Protein: 36g (72%)Fats: 22g (34%)Saturated Fats: 3g (19%)Polyunsaturated Fats: 14gMonounsaturated Fats: 4gLdl cholesterol: 89mg (30%)Sodium: 1550mg (67%)Potassium: 376mg (11%)Fiber: 2g (8%)Sugar: 1g (1%)Vitamin A: 142IU (3%)Vitamin C: 3mg (4%)Calcium: 43mg (4%)Iron: 2mg (11%)
Lifetime of Dozer
I made this 3 instances in 24 hours main as much as this submit. There have been leftovers a lots! Right here’s Mr Dozer accompanying me, taking leftovers to a neighbour. Family filled with hungry youngsters. Wonderful human compost! 🤣


