This is another recipe I make all year round. Some people think I'm crazy for grilling in the dead of winter, but I think that is the best way to cook chicken breasts so I deal with the cold and shovel the snow away. The noodle and pear recipe is a Tyler Florence recipe with a few changes. The sesame noodles are spicy, so if you don't love spice and want to tone it down, take the seeds out of the jalapeno and just use the flesh.
The complete recipe is at the bottom of the post.
Cut and peel one inch of ginger and grate it into a small bowl. Press two cloves of garlic into the bowl and add 1/4 teaspoon of read pepper flakes.
Add 3 tablespoons of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of rice vinegar, 1 tablespoon of honey and 1 teaspoon of sesame oil into the bowl. Place 4 chicken breasts in a ziploc bag and pour marinade all over the chicken. Place in the fridge until about 45 minutes before grilling. Ideally the chicken should marinate for a couple of hours, but I’ve done it for 30 minutes when I’ve been in a rush and it still turned out great. The chicken should come up to room temperature before putting it on the grill.
Cut and peel a 1 inch piece of ginger. Take the ginger and 2 cloves of garlic and smash it using the side of a large knife.
Mince 1 jalepeno pepper and put it into a small pot with the smashed ginger and garlic. Add 1/4 cup of sesame oil to the pan and heat for just a minute or two until they become fragrant.
Put 1/2 cup of peanut butter, 2 tablespoons of brown sugar, 1/4 cup of soy sauce, 1/4 cup of rice vinegar, 6 tablespoons of water and 1 tablespoon of chili paste into a food processor. Once the garlic, ginger, and jalapeno are heated through pour them into the food processor.
Puree the sauce until smooth and pour into a small bowl. Place the bowl in the fridge to cool down.
Light the grill and preheat the oven to 350°. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and add the udon noodles. Cook the noodles for 4 minutes- the noodles will rise to the top when they are finished. Drain the noodles and rinse in cold water until the noodles are cold. Place the noodles in a serving bowl, drizzle with 1- 2 teaspoons of sesame oil and stir them so they get coated in the oil. The noodles will start to stick together if you don’t oil them.
While the noodles are cooking, slice two pears in half and spoon out the seeds. Place them in a small baking dish, brush them with 1-2 teaspoons of sesame oil and season with salt and pepper. Place them in the 350° oven for 20-25 minutes until tender.
While the pears are in the oven, put chicken on the grill. Grill for 7-8 minutes a side. The chicken is done when the internal temp is 165°. We use an instant meat thermometer- it helps prevent over cooking the meat. When the chicken is done, place them on a plate and let them rest for 10 minutes. I usually put them in the microwave to help keep them warm, but you can cover with foil, too.
Slice two green onions, chop 1/4 cup of cilantro, and slice 1 lime. Add sesame sauce to the noodles and toss until the noodles are covered in the sauce. Top with half of the onions, cilantro, and sesame seeds.
Take roasted pears out of the oven and let cool slightly. Slice the pears and chicken.
Place sliced pears and chicken on top of the noodles and squeeze 1-2 lime slices on chicken, pears, and noodles. Top with remaining green onions, cilantro and sesame seeds.
Grilled Chicken with Sesame Noodles and Roasted Pears Recipe
Chicken
- 4 Boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1 inch piece of ginger, grated
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
Pears
- 2 ripe pears, halved
- 1-2 teaspoons sesame oil
- salt
- pepper
Sesame Noodles
- 9.5 ounce package udon noodles
- 1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and smashed
- 2 garlic cloves, smashed
- 1 jalepeno pepper, chopped, seeds and all
- 1/4 cup sesame oil, plus 1-2 teaspoons
- 1/2 cup peanut butter
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup rice vinegar
- 6 tablespoons water
- 1 tablespoon chili sauce
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
- 1 lime, sliced
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced
Preparation Instructions
- Place chicken, ginger, garlic, red pepper flakes, soy sauce, vinegar and honey into ziploc and marinate for 2 hours in fridge.
- Heat ginger, garlic, jalapeno pepper, and 1/4 cup of sesame sauce in small sauce pan until heated through and fragrant.
- Place ginger, garlic, jalapeno and sesame oil in food processor with peanut butter, brown sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, water and chili paste. Puree until smooth.
- Place sauce in small bowl and put in fridge to cool down.
- Preheat oven to 350° and light grill.
- Bring salted water to boil. Add udon noodles and cook for 4 minutes.
- Drain noodles and rinse in cold water until noodles are cool.
- Place noodles in serving bowl and drizzle with 1-2 teaspoons of sesame oil. Stir until noodles are coated.
- Place halved pears into baking dish, brush with 1-2 teaspoons of sesame oil, and season with salt and pepper. Bake for 20-25 minutes until tender.
- Grill chicken for 7-8 minutes a side until internal temp reaches 165°. When finished,cover and let rest for 10 minutes.
- Pour sesame sauce over noodles and toss until noodles are coated. Top with half of the green onions, cilantro, and sesame seeds.
- When pears are tender, let them cool slightly before slicing.
- Slice chicken and pears and place on top of noodles.
- Squeeze 1-2 lime slices all over noodles, chicken and pears. Top with the remaining green onions, cilantro and sesame seeds.
