I am a Honey Bee

All about my adventures with cooking, crafts, and travel

fish sauce

Garlic Butter Noodles with Scallions and Sambal

When the cat’s away the mice will play.  Or in this case, when Price is away, Nicole will eat garlic noodles. And Price was just in Vegas for a guys trip so I obviously made these!

 

 

Years ago I saw a post on White on Rice Couple for Garlic Butter Noodles. They were sharing a recipe they adapted from Jaden’s new The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook. Umm, big whoop! I’m Italian so I grew up on pasta with butter and a bit of garlic. Well, shutthefrontdoor this is totally different and amazing. I knew I would have to immediately make this recipe. The noodles, garlic, butter, some sugar, and fish sauce were all calling out to me.

 

 

I was hooked from the start. Price, not so much. So this is now a dish that I make when he is working late or away. When he works late the second he opens the door he exclaims ‘YOU MADE GARLIC NOODLES!!! NOOOOO!!!” Why does he protest so much? Because no matter how many times I brush my teeth I still stink of garlic. I don’t mind but I’m not on other end of it. So you have been warned, but I swear it is worth it.

The combination of the butter, garlic, and brown sugar is out of this world. The garlic is slowly cooked in the butter just enough to bring out the flavors. (Don’t burn it! If you do,  start over!) Then when you add the brown sugar it becomes caramel-y  with the butter. That alone is great but then you add the fish sauce and soy sauce and the whole thing get a 1-2 punch with umami flavors. The scallions are a nice touch for flavor and texture. I add the sambal bajak for some some heat and spice, which I can’t get enough of in this. The recipe is quick, addicting, and will be a favorite in no time!

Garlic Butter Noodles with Scallions and Sambal

serves 1

Ingredients

  • 4-6 oz spaghetti pasta
  • 3 garlic cloves, finely minced
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 2 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon fish sauce
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1/4 cup chopped scallions
  • 1-2 tablespoons of sambal bajak

Process

  1. Bring water to a boil in a medium size pot. Cook the pasta until al dente. Before straining set aside a 1/4 cup of pasta water.
  2. In the empty pot that you cooked the pasta in, melt the butter over medium- low heat. Add the garlic. Stir constantly to prevent the garlic from burning. Once the garlic is golden brown add the brown sugar in. Constantly mix the sugar until is starts to bubble.  Add the fish sauce, soy sauce, and pasta water. Turn up the heat to cook until it just comes to a boil. Remove from the heat.
  3. Add the pasta back to the pot with the scallions and mix until all the noodles are evenly coated. Enjoy with some sambal bajak (and a breath mint!)

What do you make when your significant other is away? Seafood? Wine and cereal? Dinner becomes eating cake while standing over the sink. 

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Shrimp Sriracha Stir Fry

This month has just flown by! I can’t believe it is already the end of December, and reveal day for Secret Recipe Club!!! For this month I was given Sarah’s blog, A Taste of Home Cooking. Price is always active in enjoying what I make but more often than not I just cook and he goes with the flow. This time, I decided that he should be able to pick the recipe off of Sarah’s blog. So he scrolled through the several years of posting to find something that we could make together. In the end the Chicken Sriracha Stir Fry recipe won out.

 

 

We are both big fans of stir fry’s so this was a great pick for us from Sarah’s blog. Plus it’s very affordable since the majority of the recipe is vegetables. We could have gone with chicken or even tofu, which is so super inexpensive, but we treated ourselves with the shrimp since it was on sale. The marinade and sauce were so flavorful from the Sriracha. I love the spice it provides to a dish, so it being used heavily in this recipe was great for me. In fact, I increased the original amount used since we like it so much, but you can scale it back for what ever you prefer. Just like the fact that I love fish sauce so I used that instead of the oyster sauce in the original recipe- just use what is prefect for you and make this your special stir fry.

 

 

The key with any cooking endeavor is to be prepared, but it’s so much more important with something like a stir fry. The longest part of any stir fry meal is the prep. The cooking time is so fast that you can’t try to juggle cutting things as you go. Take your time in the beginning and set up you mise en place for a successful, and fun, cooking experience.

 

Shrimp Sriracha Stir Fry

*Serves 4-6*

Ingredients

  • 1/2 pound of raw, peeled, deveined shrimp 31-35
  • 1 large onion, sliced
  • 1 green pepper, cut into thin strips
  • 10 oz of sliced mushrooms
  • 1/2 pound of  green beans, trim ends off
  • 4 tablespoons cooking oil, I prefer House of Tsang’s Wok Oil
  • 2 tablespoons ginger, grated
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • rice or noodles, angel hair pasta works just fine

Marinade for shrimp:

  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon dry sherry
  • 1 tablespoon water
  • 2 teaspoons Sriracha

Sauce for Stir Fry

  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch
  • 2tablespoons water
  • 1 tablespoon Sriracha sauce
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1/4 cup fish sauce

Process

  1. Prepare the marinade for the shrimp in a medium sized bowl.  Coat the shrimp for at least 30 minutes prior to cooking.
  2. In a separate bowl, prepare the sauce for the stir fry by mixing together the cornstarch, water, Sriracha, soy sauce, fish sauce, and ginger.
  3. In a large wok heat 1 tablespoon of wok oil over high heat, add the onions and green pepper strips. Stir-fry for 5 minutes or until the onuions are translucent and the pepper is tender. Remove to a large bowl.
  4. Let the wok get back up to temperature, then add another 1 tablespoon of wok oil. Add the green beans. After 3 minutes, add 1/4 cup of water and cover for another 3-5 minutes. Once the green beans are tender add them to the bowl of vegetables.
  5. Again, heat the wok back up and add 1 tablespoon of wok oil, then add the mushrooms. Stir fry until they are cooked and soft.
  6. Wipe wok out with wet paper towels. Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon wok oil over high heat. Once hot, add the ginger and garlic; after a few seconds, add marinated shrimp. Stir-fry for 2 to 3 minutes, until shrimp is fully cooked.
  7. Add the rice or noodles to the wok and then pour the sauce in. Mix to prevent sticking and to fully incorporate the sauce into the rice or noodles. Add the vegetables back to the wok just to mix together.

Shrimp Sriracha Stir Fry PDF

Secret Recipe Club

Check out my previous Secret Recipe Club Posts:

November: Vegetable Enchiladas

October: Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars

Check out the rest of the reveal day posts!