Vietnamese-American Garlic Noodles Recipe

Fish sauce may have just become my new favourite ingredient. Ever since I discovered this wonder-sauce in Vietnamese Caramelised Chicken, I've been adding it to just about everything I cook, from scrambled eggs to tomato soup (for hot pots). So far, there hadn't been a savoury dish that did not  benefit from a splash of fish sauce and its ensuing unami-bomb.

My latest favourite-est dish is this garlic noodles from the New York Times, which is adapted from San Francisco’s cult-darling restaurant Thanh Long. It's a fusion Aglio e Olio, one that had been glowed up with Vietnamese ingredients and featured a double-hit of unami from fish sauce and pecorino romano.

I’ve made this a few times over the year, and eventually came about to this final iteration. First up, I’ve dialed up the amount of Pecorino, because the original proportion was a little scanty for my taste. Second, I've sautéed the garlic with olive oil instead of butter. A neat trick for jazzing up spaghetti, one that I'd learnt from Carmelina in Boston, was topping each plate of spaghetti with pan-fried bread crumbs. Store-bought roast ducks also go perfectly well alongside these noodles. The version (pictured above, with the recipe below) is served with sliced mushrooms, fresh chives and fish roe, and is my preference when I could get my hands on fish roe. 

Vietnamese-American Garlic Noodles
Adapted from Kenji Lopez's article in the NYT: San Francisco-Style Vietnamese American Garlic Noodles 

INGREDIENTS
4 teaspoons oyster sauce
2 teaspoons light soy sauce 
2 teaspoons fish sauce
4 tablespoons of olive oil, plus more for sautéing mushrooms
20 medium garlic cloves, minced or smashed in a mortar and pestle
1 pound dry spaghetti
200g mushrooms, sliced
chili flakes for seasoning
150g Parmesan or Pecorino Romano, grated
A small handful of thinly sliced scallions 

STEPS
1. In a small bowl, combine oyster sauce, soy sauce and fish sauce. Set aside. 

2: Set a wok or a large skillet over low heat. Add olive oil and garlic, letting the garlic cook gently without browning (about 2 minutes). And as an exuberant Frenchman once said, to cook the garlic until its aroma can be smelled, and then then lock in the flavour by putting liquid. In this case, add the soy sauce mixture and remove from the heat. Stir to combine and set aside. 

3: In another large skillet, bring 1½ inches of water to a boil. Salt the water with a teaspoon of salt, and then add the pasta. Cook pasta to al dente; remove pasta from the saucepan 2 minutes before the recommended cook time on the pasta package. 

4. As the pasta is cooking, place a small skillet over medium heat. Add olive oil, then add sliced mushrooms and season with chili flakes. Cook until tender, then remove from heat and set aside.

5. When the pasta is ready, remove the pasta from the boiling water and add it to the saucepan containing the garlic sauce. (I use tongs, and any amount of pasta water that comes along with the noodles is welcomed. Don't toss the pasta water away!) 

6. Add cheese to the pasta, and stir vigorously until the sauce is combined and creamy. If the cheese starts to clump up, splash a bit more pasta water into the saucepan, which would help the emulsification process. Add in the cooked mushrooms and scallions (if using) and serve immediately.