15 Minute Spicy Chili Garlic Noodles

These deliciously savory Asian-inspired chili garlic noodles have everything you could ever want in a quick and easy dinner. They're mildly spicy, huge on flavor, super simple to make, and everything comes together in about 15 minutes. Say hello to your favorite new weeknight meal. Alright, the type of noodle we'll be using today is called dou shou mian, or knife-cut noodles. It's a wheat noodle from the Sanshi province in northern China. Because the sauce in this dish isn't that soupy and it really needs something to cling to, the flat surface and thin edges of dou shou mian is perfect for something like this. If you don't have access to an Asian market, the closest western equivalent to sanshi noodles is probably tagliatelle, but something like linguine or fettuccine are also both great for this dish, but really any type of wheat noodle with a flat surface will work well. To get started, let's bring a pot of lightly salted water up to a boil. The sauce can be fairly salty, so don't overdo it. While we're waiting for our water to boil, let's take 2 peeled shallots and cut them in half lengthwise. Now turn them perpendicular and make slices like this. Because we're cutting against the grain, they'll break down much easier in our sauce. We'll need 2 tablespoons or 22 grams of finely minced garlic, this is from about 6 cloves, 2 teaspoons or 6 grams of minced ginger, and because the shallot, garlic, and ginger all cook together, just toss them in the same bowl. We'll also need 1 tablespoon or 10 grams of gochugaru. And I know that 1 tablespoon sounds like a lot, but gochugaru is an exceptionally mild chili pepper, but what it lacks in heat, it more than makes up for in flavor. It's got a very earthy, smoky, slightly sweet flavor that is perfect for this dish. If you're not able to find gochugaru, you can definitely use other types of ground chili powders, but you'll just need to experiment to get the right amount and find what works for you. And one more tip for storing gochugaru, if you keep it in a ziplock bag in your freezer, it stays fresh almost indefinitely. And we'll need 8 ounces or 225 grams of ground pork. For our sauce, there are only two ingredients you might be unfamiliar with. The first is a sweet, savory, slightly tangy condiment called oyster sauce that is made from, well, oysters, as the name suggests. It's an essential element in a lot of Asian cooking and I highly suggest you attempt to track it down. It should be available at most grocery stores, but I'll include links in the video description The second is black vinegar. This is another essential pantry staple in Chinese cuisine. Its taste is mildly acidic and has more of a sweet, slightly toasty flavor. If you've ever had that dipping sauce for dumplings or a sweet and sour dish at a real Chinese restaurant, they were almost certainly made using this. If you can't find black vinegar, you can make something similar by mixing equal parts balsamic vinegar, red wine vinegar, and water. It's not be exactly the same, but it's surprisingly close and will totally do for this dish. So to make our sauce, let's start with 2 tablespoons or 38 grams of oyster sauce, 1 teaspoon or 5 grams of Chinese black vinegar, 1 tablespoon or 15 grams of soy sauce, ½ teaspoon or 3 grams of toasted sesame oil, ⅛ teaspoon or ½ gram MSG, and ½ teaspoon or 2 grams of sugar. And give it a good stir until the sugar has completely dissolved. Then set the sauce aside. Once all our ingredients are prepped, let's put a saute pan over medium heat and add about a tablespoon of neutral oil. Once it's hot, add the ground pork, season with a bit of salt, and break it up with your spatula. I'm using pork because this is a mostly Chinese dish, but beef or even something like turkey would also work well. I like to cook it until the meat is really well browned and slightly crispy. Then remove the pork with a slotted spoon and reserve the fat in the pan. And if there's not a lot of fat left, add a bit more oil. Once it's hot, add the shallot, garlic, and ginger, and a pinch of salt. Now, because I'm using fresh noodles, I'll start boiling mine right now because they only take about 2-3 minutes to cook, but if you're using another kind, you may want to cook them beforehand. Either way, cook the shallot, garlic, and ginger until you notice the garlic slightly starting to turn brown. Then toss in the gochugaru and stir for about 1-2 minutes in the hot oil to really let it bloom. You don't really have to cook it for long, but there are flavor compounds in ground chilies that are fat soluble and a minute or two in the hot oil will really enhance the flavor. After you've tempered the chilies for a couple minutes, add the cooked pork and the sauce, and stir until everything is totally combined. We're going for the consistency of a ragu, but if you want it a bit more saucy, you can add a touch of the pasta water. Then toss in the cooked noodles, stir until everything is mixed together, and cook for an additional 1-2 minutes to let all the flavors get acquainted. Then you're ready to serve. This recipe will make 2 very large portions or 4 smaller servings if you've got a bunch of sides. I like to garnish mine with sesame seeds and thinly sliced green onion for a bit of fresh crunchiness. I recommend serving the noodles with pickled vegetables or even something like kimchi. The sharp acidity of pickles or the tartness of kimchi cut through the savoriness of this dish in a really complimentary way. Now, chili garlic noodles are infinitely customizable. You can use rice or western style noodles or shirataki noodles if you're avoiding wheat. You can easily replace the meat with mushrooms. They now make really good non-oyster oyster sauces for a totally vegetarian or even vegan option. You can use all sorts of ground chilies. I've made this before with Mexican chili powder and it was fantastic. You'll just need to experiment with different amounts to dial in the heat level and find what works for you. I'd love to know in the comments what you all come up with, so let me know down below. If you enjoyed this video, you might like some of the videos in this playlist. Thanks for watching. See you next time.