Cold Asian Noodle Salad with Grilled Shrimp

Marinade and dressing ingredients:

The marinade and dressing are full of fresh flavors from ginger, lime zest, cilantro, sesame, mint leaves and chili pepper.

The same ingredients that go into the marinade also go into the dressing. That means you only have to mix one batch and then simply divide it.

Ingredient notes:

• Soy sauce - You can use regular soy sauce or low sodium soy sauce. The recipe card below lists the details for both the regular and the low sodium versions.
• Sesame oil - Use toasted sesame oil for this recipe. Unlike untoasted sesame oil, which has an almost neutral flavor, toasted sesame oil adds a delicious, nutty sesame flavor. You can tell whether your sesame oil is toasted or not just by looking at it. Untoasted sesame oil is almost colorless, while toasted sesame oil has a deep amber color. (Note that toasted sesame oil often just says "sesame oil" on the bottle. But if you look at the ingredient list on the back it will say that it's toasted.)
• Fresno chili pepper - Fresh Fresno chili pepper adds to the freshness of this salad. If you can't get your hands on a Fresno chili pepper, I recommend substituting jalapeno.
• Freshly grated ginger root - Technically you could substitute ground ginger but I really don't recommend that for this recipe. This salad is all about freshness and the juicy and aromatic fresh ginger is an important part of that.
• Finely chopped mint leaves - Mint leaves add a fresh, cool flavor and fragrance to this salad. But you can skip them if they're not available.
• Soba noodles: Soba noodles can differ slightly from brand to brand. Some soba noodles are made purely with buckwheat flour while others are made with buckwheat flour and wheat flour. (This is the reason why soba noodles can have different colors, ranging from light beige to gray/brown.) Either type of soba noodle will work for this recipe.

How to make it:

See full ingredient amounts and instructions in the recipe card below!

Step 1. Prepare the fresh ingredients.

Step 2. Add all dressing/marinade ingredients to a liquid measuring cup.

Step 3. Whisk until well combined.

Step 4. Pour half of the mix into a bowl and marinate the shrimp in it. Refrigerate the other half (this will be the dressing for the salad).

Step 5. Cook the soba noodles.

Step 6. Grill the shrimp, then mix with the noodles and the dressing.

Recipe notes & tips:

• Be sure to rinse the cooked soba noodles thoroughly under cold water until they are completely cold. If you don’t do this, the excess starch on the outside of the noodles will cause them to clump together.
• The insides of a Fresno chili pepper are quite spicy. Wash your hands well after handling the ribs and seeds of the pepper or wear disposable gloves.

How spicy is this salad?

The spiciness of this salad is determined by how much of the ribs and seeds of the chili pepper you remove. Red Fresno chili peppers are about as spicy as jalapeno peppers. Most of the heat of any pepper sits in the ribs (also called the pith) of the fruit. Since the seeds are touching the ribs, they pick up some heat from there as well. That means that the more ribs and seeds of the pepper you remove, the milder the dish gets.

Can I make it ahead?

Yes. You can make all three components (the grilled shrimp, the dressing and the noodles) a few hours ahead. Store each of them in a separate container in the fridge. When you're ready to serve the salad, toss everything together and add the chopped mint leaves.

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