Garlic Noodles as Art

Last July my friends Barbie and John invited my husband and me to San Francisco to bask in the gray gloom, a refreshing change from Arizona's unrelenting heat. The first night we were there we walked to a neighborhood Vietnamese restaurant for dinner. We all ordered different dishes to share but John ordered garlic noodles. For an entire year I've been dreaming about garlic noodles but have yet to find a local restaurant that serves them. 

Recently, we had an Asian market, Lee Lee, make its home in the desert. I went last week and spent two hours wandering the aisles, taking in every Asian delicacy they offer. There is an aisle for Turkish cuisine, Indian, Japanese, Chinese, Thai, and the list goes on. 

I ended up buying quail eggs (for an oil painting still life), mochi, Turkish cardamon tea, and four key ingredients for garlic noodles; fresh Asian noodles, oyster sauce, cilantro, and fish sauce. The fish sauce posed a dilemma for me, most were the color and consistency of pureed beans or beef tongue. I just couldn't get past the appearance so I opted for a strained Thai fish sauce. I also bought a bottle of Asian pear saké, I had the pleasure of trying it at a sushi restaurant in Maine and it's so elegant. It is served very chilled and in a champagne flute.

I came across a recipe for garlic noodles on the internet but several people had things to add to the noodles so I came up with my own recipe tonight that I will make again on Monday for Barbie and John.

Here is my rendition of garlic noodles:

1 lb. fresh Asian noodles (white or rice would work)

4 cloves garlic, minced and mashed or 3 T minced garlic in jar

4 T olive oil

5 T unsalted butter

1-1/2 tsp. brown sugar

2-1/2 T garlic powder

1 tsp. chicken bouillon

3 T oyster sauce

1-1/2 tsp. fish sauce

2 T cilantro, chopped finely

2 T minced garlic

Rinse noodles in cold water several times until water is clear and set aside. Boil 6 cups of water and add noodles to water, cook until done about 7-8 minutes. Drain, rinse, and set aside. In a large sauté pan, heat olive oil and add mashed/minced garlic, cook until garlic is slightly brown, with slotted spoon remove garlic, and add butter. Melt butter and add sugar, garlic powder, bouillon, sauces, and bring to a soft simmer. Whisk mixture well and add cilantro and fresh minced garlic. When cool, stir into noodles until well incorporated.

I added shrimp, I purchased raw shrimp and placed them in a grill colander and tossed them with a little olive oil and crushed red pepper. Grill until pink.

Serve with chilled saké...bon appetit!

Garlic Noodles with Grilled Shrimp