National “Eat Your Noodles” Day

What are Noodles?

When we think of Noodles we are very likely thinking very different things from one another. There are over 600 different kinds of Noodles to choose from. We have Asian Noodles, Italian Noodles and noodles in all shapes and sizes. We love noodles here in the PMGK. We have worked long and hard perfecting our noodle recipes and we are so excited to share many of them with you here.

Asian Noodles

Some of the best Asian Noodles come dried and ready for decades of shelf life. 40% of Asia’s flour is used for noodles and they feed over half the worlds population with it’s noodles. If you’re in a Japanese restaurant, don’t forget to slurp your noodles so they know you are happy with your meal. When it comes to Asian noodles there are many PMGK makes such as: Spicy Noodles, Garlic Noodles, Chicken Chow Mein, Rice Noodles, Eastern Chicken Chow Mein, Lo Mein. You’d think with all these recipes that we’d be good to go in the noodle department, right? But there are still some that we love to buy from the Asian Market. We recently discovered a spicy Korean Noodle compliments to our favorite local sushi restaurant. They don’t have noodles on the menu but we’ve seen them eating them at family dinner and we had to ask. The waitress is a fan of PMGK and was nice enough to give us a package to take home. PMGK loved them so much the next day we went to the Asian Market and bought a whole box of them.

Italian Noodles

Italian Noodles are my favorite. I managed a couple of different Italian restaurants in my teenage years and I learned a thing or two about Italian noodles. There are so many different kinds it’s crazy. Many people believe that Noodles were brought to Italy from China by Marco Polo during the 13th century. Others argue that Noodles was already gaining popularity in other areas of Italy during the 13th century so it’s hard to say which is true. One fact remains Italian Noodles are made with eggs and many other types of noodles don’t contain eggs in them at all. According to the FDA it is not a noodle unless it has eggs in it. I personally don’t care where they came from I’m just happy we have them. The first meal PMGK made me when we were dating was his famous Fettuccine Alfredo and his skills don’t stop there. He knows if he really wants to make me happy an Italian pasta is where it’s at. Some of my favorites that he makes are: Egg Noodle Lasagna, Roast Beef Stroganoff, Spaghetti with Meatballs.

Making Your Own Noodles

Noodles taste the best when they are made fresh from scratch. It may seem like a lot of extra work because dry noodles are already so cheep to buy. But if you’ve ever made your own you know that they are worth the added effort.

Spicy Noodles

The Best Spicy Noodles

If you love Spicy Noodles, you’re in for a real treat. I’ve created a fusion recipe by combining both Italian and Asian ingredients. It’s sweet, spicy and only takes about 15 minutes to prepare and cook, from beginning to end. It isn’t time consuming and the results are tremendously delicious. Plus you can add Chicken, shrimp or more vegetables if you would like to make it an entire meal. It’s totally up to you and your creative control.

Spicy Noodles, Italian or Asian pasta

For this Spicy Noodles recipe, I used Angel Hair pasta but you’re going to have to go with your gut on this one or just use what ever you have. I’ve made this successfully with Fettuccine and Ramen noodles. So, that’s going to be up to you. In the past I have professed, religiously, that it’s a cardinal sin using Italian pasta to make Chinese recipes like Chow Mein or Lo Mein. But, since this is a fusion recipe, those commandments don’t apply. The secrets to cooking your pasta, to attain the correct texture, is explained in my video tutorial.

More Asian noodle recipes I’ve posted include my Garlic Noodle, Restaurant style Chicken Chow Mein, Eastern Chow Mein, Vegetable Lo Mein with Ramen, Rice Noodles(soft or fried), How to make Pasta or Egg Noodles and a whole slew of Italian pasta recipes, too. All of which have the correct Asian Noodles or Italian pasta for each one. So, look into those if you want more options.

Spicy Noodles Sauce and Ingredients

The Sauce for this Spicy Noodles recipe is very straight forward and simple because I just combine 3 pre-made bottles of sauce; ketchup, sweet chili sauce and sriracha. Originally Spicy Sauce only contains the ketchup and sriracha, if you want to try it that way, but the sweet chili adds so much depth it can’t be denied. You can add soy sauce too, if you like but it really isn’t necessary. Even the sriracha might be a bit too much for some because there are already chili flakes in sweet chili sauce. So, that will be up to you. The other bottled ingredient you will need is sesame oil. If you don’t have it, it’s okay. This dish still tastes great with out it. You can even add chicken broth to a bowl of Spicy noodles and eat it more like an authentic bowl of homemade Ramen noodles.

Spicy Noodles Ingredients: Serves 6 to 8

1 pkg Angel Hair or Fettuccine pasta
1/2 gal Boiled Water

1/2 tsp Ginger, grated or chopped
2 Cloves Garlic, chopped
2 Green Onions, chopped
5 Fresh Basil leaves, chopped

Sauce
1/2 cup Ketchup
1/2 cup Sweet Chili Sauce
1 tbsp Sriracha, optional

1 tsp Sesame Oil

If you want to add chicken or shrimp to this recipe, I recommend seasoning it first with salt, pepper and smoked paprika and you want to use red onion instead of green. Cook the meat with the garlic and ginger first, then add the red onion and noodles and proceed with the recipe as I have instructed in the Spicy Noodles video tutorial.

Grocery Shopping – Ingredients for Oriental Recipes

Believe it or not, it’s so easy shopping for ingredients for Oriental recipes. I’d dare say, it’s even fun. You get so much culture in such a little place and sometimes its just really nice to get out of my comfort zone only to realize it can be just as comfortable somewhere else.

The folks at this 1st Oriental Market are amazing people. They’re so eager to help with all your needs. And I find that this is common just about anywhere I go when it comes to foreign food. People like to share their experiences and culture. I find that it isn’t any different here and the owner, Earl and his wife, make it a real pleasant experience.

Most Oriental Cooking, these days, is very simplified because almost all of the guess work has already been cut out for you. I don’t have to make every individual sauce that is used to combine with other sauces to make one great recipe. For example: when a recipe calls for Hoisin Sauce, you don’t have to make you’re own Hoisin Sauce from scratch(which would require several other ingredients), you just crack open a bottle. And what about Plum Sauce… could you imagine having to make that beforehand too? Both of these ingredients are in my Chinese Barbecue Sauce recipe, which only has 5 or 6 ingredients: Hoisin, Plum Sauce, Ketchup, Sugar, 5 spice powder etc., and that makes it really simple just buying each one of those premade bottles. But, could you imagine having to make all of those ingredients as well? You’d be making ingredients for your ingredients.

That being said, I would just like you to understand and realize that you don’t have to learn translations of ingredients you’ve probably never heard of in the first place. Because, most of the basic ingredients I show you in this video are very versatile to most of the popular Americanized Oriental recipes that you’re likely familiar with anyway.

So get familiar with the few I show you now and I’ll introduce more as we go and you’ll be a pro before you know it!