Asian Inspired Chili Garlic Noodles
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Serves: 2 large servings, or 4 small ones -- easily doubled
 
Sweet and spicy, fast and easy, and oh so addictive. These chili garlic noodles are fast and easy, making them perfect for weeknights. Feel free to mix it up with whatever veggies you have in the fridge, or add in whatever protein you like. (Easily made vegan and gluten-free -- see recipe notes for details.)
Ingredients
For the sauce:
  • 2 TBSP soy sauce (or gluten-free tamari)
  • 2 TBSP mirin
  • 2 TBSP water, plus more as needed
  • ½ - 1 birds eye chili (also called a Thai chili) sliced thinly, OR some dried chili flakes, chili garlic sauce, or sriracha, to taste *see recipe notes
  • 1 TBSP honey (or brown sugar)
  • 1 tsp. toasted sesame oil
For the noodles:
  • 10 oz. low mein egg noodles (or soba noodles, rice noodles, or other pasta, or gluten-free noodles of choice)
  • 2-3 TBSP peanut, coconut, or vegetable oil
  • 2 baby pak choi
  • 1 cup snow peas, cut in half
  • 1 tsp. fresh ginger, grated
  • 3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
  • 2 green onions (scallions), chopped
  • ½ TBSP toasted sesame seeds, plus more for garnish
  • Handful of fresh cilantro, chopped
  • Lime wedges, for serving
  • Optional: soft-boiled or fried eggs, or shrimp, chicken, or other protein **see recipe notes
Instructions
  1. Start by making the sauce. Add everything to a bowl or glass measuring cup, and whisk to combine. Set aside, and allow the chili to infuse the sauce with heat. To adjust the amount of heat in the recipe, see the recipe notes below.
  2. Cook the noodles according to package directions, minus a minute or two -- they should be a little chewy still -- and drain them. Set aside.
  3. In a wok or large non-stick skillet, heat 1 TBSP of oil. Cut the base off the pak choi and separate the leaves, and once the oil is hot, add it to the pan. Let cook for 30-60 seconds, then add in the snow peas, and cook for another minute or so, until bright green and crisp tender. Remove from the pan and set aside.
  4. Add another 1-2 TBSP oil to the pan, and add the garlic and ginger. Cook for 30 seconds, stirring constantly to keep the garlic from burning, then add in the cooked and drained noodles. Toss thoroughly to coat the noodles in the garlic and ginger, letting the noodles fry a little in the pan, then pour the sauce into the pan, and toss to combine. The noodles will absorb the sauce quickly -- if they become too dry, add a splash more water, as needed.
  5. Add the cooked vegetables, green onions, cilantro, and sesame seeds to the pan, and toss to combine. Serve immediately with additional sesame seeds, and fresh limes wedges for squeezing over.
Notes
*Birds eye chilis are very spicy. For maximum heat, slice them whole. For a milder heat, cut lengthwise down the middle and scrape out the seeds and veins using the edge of a spoon, or the tip of a paring knife (I recommend wearing nitrile gloves whenever handling hot peppers so you don't have to worry about getting chili oils on your hands). Discard the seeds and slice the peppers very thinly. After the peppers have steeped in the sauce, you can leave them in and toss them with the pasta, or strain them out just before adding the sauce to the rest of the dish -- they'll still infuse a little heat.

Alternatively, if you can't find or would rather not use fresh chilis, you can simply add some crushed red pepper flakes to the sauce, or a little chili garlic paste, or sriracha -- whatever you have on hand will do. Add a little to the sauce, then taste and add more as needed. You can make the noodles as mild or spicy as you'd like.

**If you want to add an egg, or other protein to the dish, I suggest cooking those first. For shrimp, chicken, beef, tofu, etc., heat an additional TBSP of oil in the pan, and cook the protein. Remove it from the pan, continue with the recipe, and add it back to the noodles at the end of cooking, or pile on top of bowls before serving.

Recipe can be easily made gluten free (use gluten-free tamari, and gluten-free noodles of choice), or vegan (use brown sugar in place of the honey, and if you're using sriracha or chili garlic sauce in place of the fresh chilis, look for one that doesn't contain any fish sauce).

Recipe adapted from Dennis The Prescott (find his recipe for honey garlic noodles, HERE), and inspired by Vermilion Roots (find her soy sauce stir-fry noodles, HERE).
Recipe by Will Cook For Friends at https://www.willcookforfriends.com/2016/03/asian-chili-garlic-noodles.html