Chinese peanut noodles… Thai Peanut Curry over rice… these are great Asian comfort foods. I absolutely adore peanut curry dishes when I’m out with friends enjoying Thai cuisine! This recipe is an homage to those dishes, but using raw zucchini for the noodles and ground cauliflower for the rice!

Since I do not use peanuts in my own kitchen (unless they are wild “jungle peanuts”),  I wouldn’t hesitate to try this dish with the “other” nut and seed butters, which commonly grace my kitchen: raw almond, pumpkin seed, sunflower seed, and cashew. But this version gives that distinctive hit of “peanut” that nothing else can mimic.

The measurements here are mild — if you want a maximally zingy curry, measure all your seasonings on the heavy side: use a larger garlic clove, add a tish more lime juice, and pop in a few pieces of raw chili pepper! My recomendation: don’t over-due the fish sauce. Instead, finish the dish with some quality natural salt at the end. If you want a bit of sweetness, you can even add a dash of cane sugar, raw honey, or agave syrup.

This dish is not 100% vegan in that it does include the fish sauce, which is made from oysters. Fish sauce is an integral part of Thai cuisine, so if being truly vegan is important to you, you could just leave it out and use a bit more soy sauce, as I do not know of any vegan equivalent to fish sauce.

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Raw Vegan Thai Peanut Curry Recipe

The Raw Cauflower Rice

• fresh cauliflower
• 1/2 tsp. Nama Shoyu or organic Tamari soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp. organic brown rice vinegar
• 1/2 tsp. cold-pressed olive oil (or sesame oil)
• chopped scallions

In blender or food processor (I use my Blendtec blender…) grind up a piece of the cauliflower to the texture of rice and measuring 1 cup. Toss with the remaining ingredients in a bowl, garnishing with the scallions at the end.

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The Zucchini Noodles with Thai Peanut Sauce         

The humble zucchini...

• 1 zucchini
• 6 heaping tablespoons peanut butter made from unroasted peanuts (I prefer crunchy-style for the texture)
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 garlic clove
• piece of fresh ginger the size of your garlic clove
• 1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
• 1/2 teaspoon fish sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon Nama Shoyu or organic Tamari soy sauce
• fresh basil, chopped
• Himalayan Crystal or Celtic Sea salt to garnish

With a vegetable peeler, pare off strips of the zucchini to make the noodles. I find the best technique is to press firmly onto the zucchini and draw the peeler towards your body. Be sure to include the inner seeded part — it’s very tender in the finished dish.p

In your blender or food processor (again, I use my Blendtec), add the peanut butter, water, garlic, ginger, lime juice,  fish sauce, and soy sauce. Blend til combined. Taste for correct seasoning for your own taste buds — you may want to increase the garlic or ginger, or a bit more lime juice to cut the richness. 

Arrange the noodles on the a serving plate. Gently warm the peanut curry sauce on the stove (optional), and spoon a generous portion of the sauce over the noodles. Top with the chopped basil.

Save some of the sauce to enjoy with the fried rice (and you’ll still have some left over as a dip for fresh veggies). Toss the noodles with the sauce before serving, and give a final seasoning with the Himalayan or Celtic salt.

The dish does well when sitting out, so it would be good for a pot luck. The zucchini will shed some water, but it mixes harmlessly into the curry sauce and makes the noodles a bit more tender. Don’t forget to have extra good salt on hand, as these noodles do ask for it.

Raw cauliflower "rice".

Seasoned raw cauliflower "fried rice".

Raw zucchini noodles with Thai Peanut Curry sauce.

Raw zucchini noodles with the Thai Peanut Curry sauce and the "Fried Rice".