Backpacking cuisine: rice noodles in peanut sauce

I love being outdoors, and I love good food. But for a long time I couldn’t imagine how the two could fit together – and that’s why, on hikes, I too often resorted to instant soups and 5-minute terrines. Until at some point (it took many trekking tours and a few years), I learned to cook myself with a few ingredients uncomplicated.

Because I know that every gram is crucial when you’re backpacking, I limit myself to light ingredients and those that I have with me anyway and can use for different dishes. For example, I have a spoonful of peanut butter for breakfast and as an energy booster in between meals. Vegetable broth whenever I urgently need something warm or am so famished that I need an appetizer.

Both also go into the pot for my favorite recipe: rice noodles in peanut sauce.

Sometimes you’re lucky enough to pass a supermarket on one of your last hiking miles. Then you can pick up some fresh ingredients without having to carry them too far. A little extra weight for extra good food is worth it – I promise 🙂 That’s why I only carry a fresh lemon and some parsley here for a few miles.

Ingredients for the outdoor recipe rice noodles with peanut sauce.

Ingredients (for two people)

180 grams of rice noodles (plus water for boiling)
250 milliliters of water for the sauce
3 tablespoons peanut butter
Powdered vegetable broth
Chili flakes
Curry powder
Salt
Handful of nuts (peanuts, cashews, pistachios)

Optional:

Juice of half a lime or lemon
Parsley, fresh or dried

Preparation

Heat the water for the rice noodles and add the noodles to the pot as soon as the water boils. Then turn off the heat and let the noodles sit, covered, in the hot water for about three minutes. Then drain and set aside.

Add rice noodles to the pot of boiling water.

Now bring the vegetable broth to a boil in the pot and season with chili powder, curry and a pinch of salt. Add about three tablespoons of peanut butter and stir well. Simmer until the peanut butter has melted and the sauce is creamy.

Then mix everything together, garnish with the nuts as well as optionally drizzle the juice of a lime or lemon over the top. And finish with fresh parsley, if available.

Enjoy your meal!

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