Vietnamese Garlic Noodles

 

This dish was created by J. Kenji López-Alt and was a featured entree at the Thanh Long restaurant in San Francisco. You can never go wrong with a meal when spaghetti noodles are the main attraction. While the noodles are glorious all by themselves, you can crank it up a level by adding a fried egg. But the flavors really shine with shellfish....so I'd select shrimp, crab or lobster meat for an absolute crowning touch.

INGREDIENTS

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

20 garlic cloves, minced, pressed or smashed in a mortar and pestle

4 teaspoons oyster sauce

2 teaspoons soy sauce

2 teaspoons fish sauce

16 ounces of dried spaghetti

1/4 cup grated Parmesan 

DIRECTIONS

1. Melt the butter in a wok or saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant but not browned, about 2 minutes. Add the oyster sauce, soy sauce and fish sauce, and stir to combine. Remove from the heat.
2. Meanwhile, bring 1-½ inches of water to a boil in a 12-​inch skillet or sauté pan over high heat. Add the pasta, stir a few times to make sure it’s not clumping and cook, stirring occasionally, until just shy of al dente (about 2 minutes short of the recommended cook time on the package).
3. Using tongs, transfer the cooked pasta to the garlic sauce, along with whatever water clings to it. (Reserve the pasta water in the skillet.) Increase the heat to high, add the cheese to the wok and stir with a wooden spatula or spoon and toss vigorously until the sauce is creamy and emulsified, about 30 seconds. If the sauce looks too watery, let it keep reducing. If it looks greasy, splash some more pasta water into it and let it re-​emulsify. Serve immediately.

Wine Pairing: Syrah or an oaky Chardonnay