Paul M. Baxter

Over on Facebook, I posted this picture of a delicious dinner that included fried noodles.

“Fried noodles?” someone asked. So I went on to explain how I made them.

Boil some egg noodles until just done, and drain. How much? How many noodles do you want? I do two or three large handsful. Once you’ve made them a couple times, you’ll know how much you need.

In a frying pan (I think a good heavy cast iron frying pan is best, but use what you’ve got), get ready to sauté some onion until it’s got good color on it. Use the fat or oil of your choice. Bacon grease adds more flavor, but olive oil is just fine. I like to slice them so that they are close in size to the noodles you’re using.

When the onions are done to your satisfaction, turn the heat up to medium if it’s not at least that warm already, and add the drained noodles. You may need to add a little more oil, depending on how much the onions have absorbed. Mix the noodles and onions together.

The next step is what makes them fried noodles. Now, you just let them fry for five or ten minutes without touching them. Then use your spatula to stir them and flip them over some so that the noodle parts that haven’t gotten to spend quality time at the bottom of the pan get their fair share. This process makes the noodles crispy or crunchy to your taste.

When they are – serve them hot! Some fresh-ground black pepper on top to taste is good. A little gravy or pan juices from a deglazed pan would not be a bad addition, either.

If you search for peanut sauce recipes, you’ll find some common elements. Peanut butter. Hot water. Soy sauce. Something sweet. You can use white sugar or brown sugar or honey. I saw a recipe with agave nectar, if that’s what you want.

Beyond that, a little acid. No, not THAT acid. Acid like lime juice or lemon juice or some kind of vinegar. Rice wine vinegar is good, but white vinegar or apple cider vinegar is good too. I’ve never tried balsamic or wine vinegar.

And garlic. Finely chopped garlic, a clove or two. Garlic powder, if you don’t have fresh garlic on hand. (Not garlic salt. This is salty enough with the soy sauce.)

If you don’t like garlic, leave the garlic out.

Then, heat to taste, and by heat, I mean the flavor. A little cayenne pepper, a little hot sauce, a little crushed red pepper; something like that.

Finally, a little dark sesame oil is good. A VERY little. A little goes a long way. If you don’t have this, don’t let it stop you from making this. It’s fine without it; I just like it better WITH just a little.

What you add after that depends on your pantry, your taste, and your imagination. A little fish sauce? A little hoisin sauce? Some chili-garlic paste or a little Sriracha? If you like. Go for it. A little grated fresh ginger is very good, too. Grated fresh ginger, not the powdered stuff.

A couple serving suggestions. While this is excellent over steamed broccoli or pasta or cardboard, it’s even better if you have a little crushed peanuts to sprinkle on top, for the crunch. Another good addition: finely chopped green onions, if you like those. And cilantro, unless you are my friend Kelly and have the genes that let you taste what it REALLY tastes like. Maybe a squeeze of fresh lime juice on top.

That’s pretty much it. What this lacks is exact proportions, but don’t worry about that. You have the recipe below as a starting point. Add my suggestions to it from there, a little at a time. You may have to make it more than once and experiment. This is the price you pay to develop your ability to create deliciousness. You can do it.

http://www.veggiebelly.com/2013/02/stupidly-easy-peanut-noodles.html