Chinese-inspired Aglio, Olio e Peperoncino Pasta
A super easy Chinese take on an Italian staple: in addition to oil, garlic and chili flakes, we add lots of ginger, black rice vinegar, scallions, soy sauce, and some other stuff to this quote-unquote "pasta". Can be served right away warm, or prepared in advance and served chilled. See the notes below regarding certain ingredients.
Equipment
- Wok or frying pan
- A bowl
- Chef's Knife
- A stirring utensil
- Peeler (optional)
Ingredients
- 300-400 g Noodles We use two servings of Amoy Straight to Wok Medium because you don't have to boil them, but any will do
- 2-3 tbsp Vegetable oil (sunflower, rapeseed, etc.) Most to be used for the garlic/ginger infusion, but use a bit to fry up noodles in the wok
- 8 cloves 3 cloves to be crushed, 5 cloves to be minced
- 4 inch Ginger, peeled and minced + 3-4 large slices
- 5 Scallions, only the green parts finely sliced ⅔ to be cooked, ⅓ for garnish
- 3 tbsp Soy sauce
- 2 tbsp Black rice vinegar (Chiankiang)
- 1 tsp Fish sauce
- Pepper To taste
- Chili Flakes To taste, the spicier the better (I used dried and crushed birdseye chilis)
- 2 tsp Pickled ginger, finely sliced (for garnish) If you don't have any, just reserve a bit of your minced ginger
- Roasted sesame seeds To taste
Instructions
- Pour some oil into a wok or frying pan and add the 3 cloves of crushed garlic and 3-4 sliced coins of ginger. Heat at medium-low for 5 mins.
- Remove ginger and garlic and increase heat to medium high for 2 mins. Put 2/3rds of your sliced scallions in a mixing bowl. Add the hot oil to the bowl to lowkey cook the scallions. They'll shrink and wilt a bit. If they turn brown or black your oil was too hot. Because they are baby onions, scallions are more delicate than their older siblings, which is why you can't cook them directly over heat. Let them further infuse the oil for 5 mins.
- Once sufficiently infused, add the minced garlic and ginger (reserving a little bit of ginger for garnishing if you don't have any pickled ginger). Also add the soy sauce, black rice vinegar, and fish sauce. Add some chili flakes to taste here as well. Mix well and let sit for 10-15 mins so that all the ingredients mingle.
- Cook your noodles at some point during this. If using wok-fried noodles that don't require boiling, 5 mins in the wok over medium heat will do. Just add a bit of oil and wiggle the wok around to prevent sticking. If your noodles need to be boiled, most noodles of the Asian sort don't require much cooking time, so budget accordingly if you want to serve the dish hot. Be sure to read the packaging information. Once noodles are cooked, combine the sauce with the noodles in a wok over medium-low heat for 1-2 mins.
- Serve in a bowl or over a plate right away if you want the dish warm. Divvy up the remaining scallions and be sure to add pickled ginger if you've got it, or whatever bit of minced ginger remains. Throw the toasted sesame seeds on top. You can also throw the dish in the fridge and keep it there for up to 2-3 days and eat it cold. (You could probably reheat it too).