Eating long noodles (without breaking them) means you`ll have a long life. Or so say Asian New Years tradition. I guess it`s worth a try?

What you need:

* 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
* 2 tsp peeled grated fresh ginger
* 2 tbs low-sodium soy sauce
* 1 tbs distilled white vinegar
* 1 tsp Asian sesame oil
* 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper sauce
* Salt to taste
* 1 package (8 ounces) soba noodles, (100% buckwheat)
* 1 1/2 cups shredded or matchstick carrots
* 1 pound large shrimp, shelled and deveined, with tail part of shell left on if you like
* 4 ounces snow peas, strings removed
* 1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves, chopped, plus additional sprigs for garnish

What you do:

In small bowl, place peanut butter, ginger, soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, and cayenne pepper sauce; set aside.

Heat covered saucepot of water and 1 teaspoon salt to boiling over high heat. Add noodles and cook 4 minutes. Add carrots and cook 1 minute. Add shrimp and snow peas and cook 2 minutes more.
Reserve 1/2 cup pasta cooking water. Drain noodles, shrimp, and vegetables into large colander. Transfer noodle mixture to large bowl.

With whisk, beat reserved cooking water into peanut-butter mixture until well blended. Add peanut sauce and chopped cilantro leaves to noodle mixture in bowl and toss until evenly coated.

To serve, spoon into 4 large bowls; garnish each serving with a cilantro sprig.