Copy Cat Tokyo Alley Noodle Salad

Almost nine years ago, one of the first dates Brandon and I went on was to Tokyo Alley in downtown Macon.  I was immediately addicted to the cold noodle salad that is served with each of the dishes.  For the past seven years, Brandon and I have occasionally tried to re-create the recipe but have not had much success until recently.  Last week, Brandon finally perfected it and oh man was it delicious!  We made one tweak that I think made it even better: we used whole wheat pasta. Throw in our sweet and spicy chicken to go with it (which is pretty similar to Tokyo Alley's sweet and hot chicken) and our scrumptious meal was complete.

If you would like to copy cat Tokyo Alley's noodle salad and sweet and hot chicken, here is what you will need:

Noodle Salad

1 box whole wheat pasta
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp finely ground celery seed
2 Tbsp milk
6 Tbsp miracle whip
salt and pepper

Boil water. Salt heavily. Cook pasta to al dente texture.  When pasta is finished cooking, drain and rinse with cold water.  Set to the side.

Whisk together miracle whip, milk, onion powder, garlic powder, ground celery seed, and salt and pepper.

Refrigerate sauce for approximately 15 minutes before mixing with pasta.  Mix pasta and sauce and refrigerate an additional 30 minutes.

Serve with slices of tomato and salt and pepper to taste.

Hot and spicy chicken

Chicken:
1 to 1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs
salt and pepper
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder

Slice each chicken thigh into four equal parts.  Season with salt and pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder.  Set to the side.

Sauce:
2 cups cold water
2 1/2 tsp arrow root or corn starch
2 Tbsp sriracha
1/2 cup splenda or sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp vinegar
1 1/2 Tbsp honey

Whisk together cold water and arrow root (or corn starch).  Put whisked together water and arrow root (or corn starch) on medium/high heat.  Whisk in the remaining ingredients.  Bring to boil.  Reduce to simmer for 5 minutes.  Set to side.

Saute chicken until almost done on medium/high heat.  Pour sauce over chicken and cook until sauce reaches desired consistency (at least 2 minutes).

Enjoy!

Until next time...