There are times when I stand in the middle of my kitchen and have no idea what I want to cook. Its usually because of one of the following reasons:
A) My kids have totally worn me out and I barely have enough brain power to resist my children’s pleading to eat gummy bears dipped in chocolate, topped with marshmallow and stuck on a popsicle stick. I totally surrender.
B) I went totally bezerk at the market and now my fridge is jam-packed full of wonderful produce. Can’t decide what to make. I’m stuck in analysis paralysis.
C) I mistakenly took the Stupid Pills instead of the Super Mom pills. ’nuff said. When confronted with any of the above, I go on auto-pilot, grab the Chinese dried egg noodles and make this. Here is my warning: This is very unhealthy and bad for you. I’ll explain why down below…
Garlic Scallion Noodles
which is the secret code name for “Garlic Butter and Sugar Noodles” - just in case any physicians, nutritionists, skinny people or my mother reads this.
It has nothing but noodles, garlic and sugar. Those green things? Garnish just to add color and some sort of nutritional value. These noodles are addictive. They kind of remind me of the garlic butter noodles from Crustacean and Thanh Long in San Francisco, which I describe as crack in noodle form.
served 1 – me. yup I almost ate the whole damn bowl myself. Its one of those foods that is so good and comforting that you could eat 10 lbs of it and not even notice. But really, it should serve 4 as accompaniment to other high-calorie, fattening foods.
7 ounces skinny dry egg noodles (half the package)
1/4 cup chopped scallions
3 garlic cloves, finely minced
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
3 tablespoons butter
1. Soak noodles: in cold water for 2 minutes. Drain. Soak in boiling hot water for 3 minutes. Drain. Use chopsticks to separate the noodles well. (if you are using thicker noodles than pictured above, read the directions on the package for soaking times)
2. Fry the aromatics: In wok or large saute pan, heat about 3 tablespoons butter over medium-low heat. Before the butter gets too hot, add the scallions and garlic. Fry until fragrant, but careful not to let it burn. Slowly frying on med-low heat will flavor the butter. Add brown sugar, fish sauce and oyster sauce. Stir.
3. Fry the noodles: Add the drained noodles. Fry for 2 minutes until the noodles are done. If you are using the thicker noodles – adjust cooking time. Read instructions on the noodle package.
Optional: How about adding shrimp, chicken, beef or pork to this dish? Marinate meat first in a little soy, salt, pepper, sesame oil, Shaoxing wine & sugar. Fry the seafood or meat first in a little cooking oil and then remove, set aside. Then fry the aromatics and noodles. Add the meat back into the wok when the noodles are almost done. You could also add more veggies. But that would totally defeat the purpose of this incredibly unhealthy dish. No egg noodles? Use spaghetti noodles – just boil 1 minute shy of done first.
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Look who else made them:
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Hi Jaden can you tell me if all that is delicious is unhealty yet?
Good sunday time
In italy it’s stormy weather…I’m thinking to come to live in california!!!!!!
If you want to make it more healthy, substitute the butter for olive oil or sesame oil.
It will still taste really nice!
Hi Jaden – This is unhealthy? Gasp……
My Mom used to make me white bread sandwiches with butter and white sugar, and I always thought of those as being not being terribly unhealthy. Thus, because you used “brown” sugar (and not white sugar), I’d say this can be classified as relatively healthy!
My favorite Sichuan restaurant makes this really awesome cold noodle that’s basically spaghetti noodles, scallions, sesame oil, and chili peppers.
I didn’t realize the noodles needed to be pre-soaked. I would have just boiled them.
hELLO!!! I just stumbled upon your blog!…And it looks like i’ve been missing out on a LOT of great photography, great food, and great write ups….i will be returning for more…and more
Oh boy. Looks delicious, and very dangerous.
the AP blondies were NOT good. heheh
Do you mind If I link you?
YUMMM. I want to make these now.
OK, healthy or not, these noodles sound amazing! I too reach for noodles when I can’t figure out what to cook — they are my default, and I love them every possible way. I’ve never tried adding brown sugar, though — but I can see where this would be delicious. Yum yum.
Oh, yum! They look wonderful. Thanks for a new non-diet recipe to add to my hips, I mean recipe file. And you are evil to write about what your kids bug you for because now my kids will whine for that, too! They hadn’t thought about dipping it in chocolate, yet.
Oh my… i love these egg noodles with some deepfried wanton and “choy sum”! Use to eat them for breakfast back when I was in Malaysia *feels for the spare tyres around the waist* yep, it’s still there!
Dear Jaden,
Noodles will taste good with simply soy sauce and sugar. A trick I learned many years ago.
p/s Have you decide to buy a pasta maker?
I made almost the same dish too, just few days ago!!!! :O
But I tossed in my noodles with green onion/scallions+ginger “sauce”. It was soooo good to *swoop swurp* on its own. No need to add in meat ….just as good.
And you are soooo right! I ate and ate…without realizing how much noodles I’ve consumed. Danger danger noodles!
GuyJ- well part of the point of this dish is to eat as unhealthy as possible so that you feel gross and then remember to eat healthy for the rest of the month!
Kirk- I should add that sometimes I use A LOT more butter and sugar than what I listed. I was just too embarrassed to tell y’all!
PE- haha! I’d be in deep shit if I considered brown sugar to be healthy.
WC-oh i didn’t even think to add chopped chillis to it.
Amrita- thanks for stopping by, of course you can link here! I’m going to have to try one of your baking recipes soon.
Scott- ~~ eat noodles~~
Lynn- its the whole sweet-salty-umami thing going on
Expedited Writer- you know in Asia, it is completely normal to eat a regular meal for bfast (vs. here in America we eat mostly carbs- cereals, pastries, oatmeal, etc.) I’m going to start eating a nice meal for bfast like rice with some Choy Sum and meat. I bet I wouldn’t get my 11am sugar craving if I did that.
Mrs.HBT- No I haven’t decided yet. Party b/c I really don’t have room for another appliance in the kitchen. Maybe I can convince husband to buy me a bigger house so that I have room for pasta machine!
Tiger- I swear, you, Melting Wok and I must be foodie sisters. We always seem to make similar things at the same time!! We must have the same cravings!
Oh yum, buttered noodles… mmm…! I’ll save this for the next time I don’t know what to make. When I don’t know what to make I usually go for fried rice or noodles.
Oohh..this has perked my interest. I’ve never heard/thought of using butter on egg noodles before. I can just see this ending up in my lunchbox this week.
I love these noodles and usually made it with wontons. Now I’ll have to try it with brown sugar and butter. YUM! Btw, love your blog!
Amy- Fried rice is my other go-to dish when I am dazed and confused. oh yeah, and hung over.
Ilingc- When you make it, take a photo and share!
V- Thank you so much! I need to find the time to make your Sago Pudding
I made this for dinner tonight! I added shrimp and it was amazingly delish.
I made these yesterday as a side dish to grilled wild salmon for a family I cook for – oh my, the kids went cuckoo! Like noodles on crack – hyper-delicious and quite addictive. Thanks for the inspiration.
Alex & Heidi-
Thanks for trying the recipe! I’m glad I can spread a new addiction to your world.
last night was the second night i made the noodles..the first being the night before. they are amazing. delicious. and my sister and i had to fight over who got to shove their entire face into the bowl first. we did, however, on the second night make a few adjustments and decided that while almost nearly impossible, the flavor was slightly improved.
–we added dried chili flakes and grated ginger to the butter/scallions/garlic frying process
–never ones to use just half a package of anything, we doubled the batch since we used a whole package of egg noodles.
**we found that 3T of brown sugar is plenty and just 4T of butter is needed
–a small squeeze of fresh lime juice is a summery addition, as well.
everyone, GO MAKE THESE IMMEDIATELY.
Oh, this one was good! I used udon noodles, just cooked in boiling water and refreshed in cold, and threw some snap peas at the end. Also finished it up with a couple of grinds of red pepper and a tiny pinch of kosher salt, and that really popped the sweet flavor. This would be a great lunch to reheat at work.
So I’m totally late to the party with these noodles! I’m not talented in the kitchen, but this is on my “go-to” list of dishes to make for my brain-dead and tired days as well as a neat little side dish for company! The variations for this are endless…thank you for re-inspiring me in the kitchen:)
Ha ha, I can so relate to this. My quickie ‘crack’ noodle fix is to boil wanton or egg noodles and mix the lot with a bit of oil or butter, a dash of soy sauce, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce and a sprinkle of parsley. No need to fry even! It’s nice and saucy.
Are you serious! These look so good, I mean SO GOOD! I have got to give this a shot very, VERY soon!
I’d add some chilli oil or chilli flakes like some of the other people have mentioned in the comments. If you marinate your beef in the mixture you mention with a little chilli oil and corn starch you’d have something kinda similar to a mongolian beef recipe.
i am now officially a member of your cult…tried it tonight for dinner and boy, oh boy, it is reallllllllly good! i forgot to take a picture for you ‘coz when i started to smell the aroma (heavenly!), i just want to eat right away. thanks jaden.
Wow! These look *fantastic*. Another one to try!
3 cloves of garlic?
That’s not even a smidgen of what we use. Try more like 8-12 cloves. Of course, we’re trying to match the recipe of some of the vietnamese garlic noodle dishes we have in the area. Those are some of the best noodle dishes I’ve ever had. Yes, Crustacean and Thanh Long are famous but there are many vietnamese noodle places in the city that make this dish.
BTW, if you want to make it ‘healthier’ you can cut the butter in half by using Smart Balance to simmer in.
WHY did you have to bring up Crustasean and Thang Long!?!?!? My mouth INSTANTLY started to water! Now I know why I miss the Bay Area so much…:-(
Help… I tried these and they came out mushy. The taste was wonderful, in spite of the texture. Does anyone have any ideas about why my noodles turned out mushy? I used fresh, thin egg noodles and cooked as directed.
Thanks for any ideas
Adeana,
Hey there – you probably overcooked the noodles. What did the package direction say for how long to boil?? My directions above are for “DRY” noodles, not fresh.
I made a mistake and bought long life noodles and couldn’t finish them (for lunch). After all there were only two people. I am going to attempt making these with the leftover noodles and throw some crispy pancetta bits on top (because Ronny wants pancetta).
Next round I’ll make these following your recipe to a T – if I can get my hands on any egg noodles in the right format.
I LOVE THESE NOODLES!!!
thank you for the awesome recipe!
I made them tonight for my bf, and we could not stop eating them!
I just made a slight alteration by adding sugar snap peas.
Holy CRAP, was this good. I’m going to start seriously trolling this website for more recipes! We made it with fresh egg noddles (1lb, doubled everything plus more), shrimp with your excellent marinade suggestion, and even more butter and sugar than you asked for.
Thanks for this recipe! I couldn’t stop eating these…except i would explode!
These are SO good. Closest to Crustacean’s that I’ve found so far.
Thank you SO much for this recipe. I eat at Thanh Long every time I’m in SFO, and have tried every garlic noodle recipe on the web that says they “taste just like” Thanh Long’s…not until I tried your recipe did I finally put a plate of noodles on the table that I can finally call “crack noodles”…AWESOME!
OK, given that we have spent this winter in the toddler spiral of death (they make them so cute so that we don’t banish the little cess pools of germs) I am looking for big time comfort food. Can I make this with chow mein noodles?
I made these for dinner Monday night, whoa!!!! They were so good I had to make them for dinner Tuesday
Thank you!!!!