Thai-style Drunken Noodles
Ah, drunken noodles. No, the noodles themselves aren’t drunk; There’s no alcohol in the dish, contrary to what you may be thinking. Instead, the name refers to the state people are often in when they’re eating these noodles. What drunk doesn’t love garlicky, spicy, salty food?
And really, if you’re not a fan of garlic or chile heat, then don’t make this. Don’t leave out the garlic because your mom doesn’t like it, or only put in half a seeded jalapeno because you don’t like heat. I’m sick of seeing comments on blogs and recipe sites where people explain how they changed numerous major components of a dish before they’d think about trying something. I don’t believe that recipes are gospel, by any means, but you can’t completely omit or change a dish’s major flavor profile. And in this case, that means garlic and chiles (and it could be argued, fish sauce).
Rant aside, this is a super easy and fast meal, great for weeknights. Just make sure to take some breathmints to work the next day.
Drunken Noodles
1 14 oz package of wide rice noodles
6 cloves of garlic, finely chopped or minced through a press
1/4 c Thai chiles, chopped (alternately, use 5-7 serrano chiles if Thai are not available)
1 lb ground chicken or pork
1/3 c fish sauce
1/4 c soy sauce
1/4 c Golden Mountain sauce, or more soy sauce
2 T sugar
2-3 cubanelle or Anaheim peppers, sliced
Thai basil, to taste
1. Cook noodles in boiling water until cooked, but still firm. Time it so the noodles are done the same time as the sauce/meat.
2. Add a little vegetable oil to a wok, then add your ground meat. Stir fry over high heat until done, then add garlic, chiles and peppers. Stir fry until peppers are tender, about 2-3 minutes.
3. Add sauces and sugar, and bring to a simmer. Toss noodles into the wok, and combine with sauce. If needed, cook 1-2 minutes more in the sauce in order to cook noodles to your liking.
4. Serve with chopped Thai basil and extra chiles, if desired.
November 10th, 2009 at 7:53 am
I’m in total agreement with you about changing up a recipe. It seems like there is a lot of this mind-set of ‘Well I didn’t have A or B or C when I wanted to make this but it turned out great anyway!!’ and it makes me think ‘Then what was the point of making the recipe?’
I love dishes like this, simple and brimming with flavor and heat. Make my eyebrows sweat!
November 13th, 2009 at 3:20 pm
Yes! Unless you are deathly allergic to something, make the recipe as instructed. Or else move on. It’s one of my pet peeves when people say they made something but subbed out a bunch of stuff. You didn’t make the recipe then, dude, I want to say.
As always, great post.
June 24th, 2010 at 5:07 pm
Pretty excellent post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say that I have very enjoyed reading your blog posts. Any way I will be subscribing for the feed and I hope you article again soon.
July 20th, 2010 at 6:06 pm
Social networking web sites allow you to brand yourself and even build up your credibility. Make sure that you benefit from keywords that people are using to search for your business. Social networking online websites will also grant your blog a fantastic increase in search positioning, and you may find that you are likely to get your site into the top 10 of Google for a large range of search phrases if you just take a disciplined strategy to social marketing.
August 13th, 2010 at 11:41 am
post – and nifty domain by the way!
August 17th, 2010 at 11:23 pm
i like your articles a lot and will be excited to read more
August 31st, 2010 at 3:44 pm
Finally a great post regarding the topic, keep up the great work and thus I wish to learn far more within you in the near future.