Garlic noodles recipe

These garlic noodles are deceivingly simple, yet devastatingly delicious. Garlic noodles were invented back in the ’70s at a restaurant in San Francisco called Thanh Long.

Usually served with roasted Dungeness crab, the recipe is a very closely guarded family secret, but after lots of investigation, and even more experimentation, I think this is very close.

Ingredients

For the Secret Sauce:

2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons fish sauce
¼ teaspoon sesame oil
1 pinch cayenne pepper

For the Noodles:

4 tablespoons unsalted butter
8 cloves garlic, minced
6 ounces spaghetti
¼ cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1 tablespoon chopped green onion, or to taste
1 pinch red pepper flakes

Directions

Gather all ingredients. Stir soy sauce, oyster sauce, Worcestershire sauce, fish sauce, sesame oil, and cayenne pepper together in a small bowl for the secret sauce.

Dotdash Meredith Food Studios
Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add garlic; cook and stir just until fragrant, about 1 minute. Quickly stir in the secret sauce and turn off the heat.

Dotdash Meredith Food Studios
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook spaghetti in boiling water, stirring occasionally, until tender yet slightly firm to the bite, about 12 minutes.
Transfer spaghetti into the sauce using tongs, bringing some of the cooking water with it. Toss until well coated; stir in Parmesan cheese. Splash in more pasta water if noodles are too dry.

Dotdash Meredith Food Studios
Plate noodles; garnish with green onions and red pepper flakes.

Dotdash Meredith Food Studios

Chef’s Notes

Virtually any noodle will shine in this, but I quite like good old spaghetti. Good options include Chinese egg noodles and ramen.

Apparently, one of the secret ingredients is Maggi Seasoning Sauce, which I decided not to use since I’m not sure how easy it is for the average person to find. Besides, I think my assortment of savory, umami-rich substitutes did the job quite nicely, and everything in the ingredient list can be found at any large grocery store.