If it isn’t abundantly clear, we love ourselves a good noodle bowl. It was love at first bite when we first tried Momofuku in New York and have made it a point every time we go to the city to stop by for noodles, steamed buns, and any and everything else on the menu. One summer we tried their Chilled Ramen Bowl and Tate’s Dad couldn’t get enough. We have since been recreating this dish at our homes so we can enjoy it year round. This dish is the perfect combo of spicy, sweet and crunchy. We used spinach in this recipe but you can substitute for any green vegetable that you have on hand. Because it is served cold, you can make extras that will hold up extremely well in your fridge so you can have this all week long.

Momofuku Inspired Chilled Spicy Noodles
Makes: 6 servings 
Prep Time: 20 minutes    Total Time: 35 minutes 

Ingredients for The Candied Cashews**:

• 1/2 cup cashews
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tbs water 

Ingredients For the Noodles: 

• 2 lbs ground pork
• 1 inch fresh ginger, grated 
• 4 dried thai chiles, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced 
• 6 cups spinach
• 2 tbs soy sauce
• 2 tbs fish sauce
• 2 tbs sesame oil 
• 1 lb fresh wonton noodles (any fresh soup noodle will work) 
• scallions, for garnish 
• salt and pepper to taste. 

Directions: 

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Make the cashews by combining the cashews, sugar, and water in a small bowl- stir to combine. Pour the mixture into a medium skillet over medium heat. Let the liquid and sugar start to bubble. When it starts to caramelize pour the cashews onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes, or until the cashews are golden brown and crunchy. 
2. While the cashews are cooking, start the pork. Heat a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the pork, ginger, thai chiles, and garlic to the pan. Season to taste with salt and pepper and cook until the pork is cooked through. Add the spinach, reduce the heat, and cook until the spinach is cooked through. Drain most of the fat from the pan, reserving 1/4 cup for the noodles, and turn the heat off the pan. 
3. Cook the noodles. Heat a large pot of water over high heat and bring to a boil. Cook the noodles according to package directions. Drain the noodles when they have finished cooking and rinse with cold water to cool. Toss the noodles with the soy sauce, fish sauce, and sesame oil; season with salt to taste. If they need a little extra liquid, use a bit of the reserved fat from the pork to give them a flavorful coating. 
4. Create the noodle bowls by layering the noodles on the bottom of the bowl. Top with the ground pork and spinach mix and finish with the candied cashews. Garnish with chopped scallions if desired. 

** You can skip this step and buy a number of candied cashew varieties at the grocery store and skip this step! We often use Trader Joe’s Sesame Candied Cashews as a quick replacement.