Side dishes with personality can be hard to come by. When I put so much effort into the main entree I don't want to be bothered by anything more than putting on a pot of rice or quickly chopping up some lettuce and drizzling over some bottled salad dressing. These noodles have the ease of a being quick to throw together (less than 10 minutes start to finish) but you also get a blast of flavor with the garlic and the sweet/savory combination of the sauce.
This noodle side dish is a serious winner.
Recipe from Steamy Kitchen
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Serves 4
7 oz skinny dry egg noodles (I found these in the International Food aisle)
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
Soak noodles in cold water for 2 minutes. Drain. Soak in boiling hot water for 3 minutes. Drain. Use a fork to separate the noodles well. (if you are using thicker noodles than pictured above, read the directions on the package for soaking times)
In a 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.
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.
Click here for printable version of Garlic Scallion Noodles
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THE RESULTS?
*Pretty good. I have to admit that I have a shameful secret...I have been giving prepared garlic in a jar a try (I know...I know). I have been giving it a go for the last month or so, and while I do love the ease of use, it doesn't have the same fresh garlic flavor. It gets this weird, funky, vinegary flavor. I even tried making my own to see if that would help. Not so much. I just came to that conclusion tonight as we ate these noodles. I went against my better judgment and used the prepared garlic instead of fresh. While the noodles were good, I could taste that funky garlic flavor. Should have known! Anyways, I've come to my senses and decided to throw my jar of prepared garlic in the garbage.
So yes, the noodles were tasty, but I need to give this dish another fair shot. I will make it again using FRESH garlic cloves, and I might cut back a little bit to using only 2 cloves. I also totally forgot to buy green onions, so while this is a Garlic Scallion dish, there were no actual scallions to be found. They would have been nice. I did however add some chopped cilantro which gave it that pretty pop of green and a nice fresh flavor. I would do that again.
Oh! And did I mention they are super fast to make? Because they are. About 10 minutes is all it took. My hubby made these while I took care of the fish. He's a good hubby.
*Updated July 29, 2011: I FINALLY made these again using fresh garlic. AMAZING. We all just kept eating and eating and eating. The moral of the story is: always use fresh garlic.