Garlic noodles from my favorite Burmese restaurant are among the foods that I crave most. With this quick, easy recipe, you can make them at home any time. And the best part is that they use just a handful of pantry staples.
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Their famous Tea Leaf Salad is what first made Burma Superstar my favorite neighborhood restaurant. But then I discovered the Garlic Noodles. It’s such a simple dish, but my cravings for it run deep.
What ingredients do you need?
The ingredients list is short and so basic, I’m willing to bet most readers have almost everything needed in their kitchens right now:
Garlic is, obviously, the predominant flavor, so it follows that the recipe calls for a lot of it—4 tablespoons! I used one of my favorite kitchen tools, the Garlic Rocker, which makes quick work of a handful of large cloves.
Choosing the Right Pasta for Your Garlic Noodles
When I went to the giant Asian supermarket to get fresh noodles, I was overwhelmed by the choices. The book calls for “wide, flat wonton noodles.” I didn’t see anything marked that way, so I chose fresh Chinese spaghetti, which turned out to be perfect. They had just enough substance and chew to be really satisfying and hold the garlicky sauce.
the Burma Superstar Cookbook
I was beyond excited when the Burma Superstar Cookbook came out. I haven’t attempted the Tea Leaf Salad, although that is on my list (I need to get a jar of fermented tea leaves first—or try making my own!), but I made the garlic noodles straight away.
how do you make it?
This is one of those elusive quick and easy, yet crazy delicious recipes that uses basic ingredients that you likely already have in your pantry.
- Fry the garlic in oil and then transfer both the fried garlic and the oil to a large mixing bowl.
- Add the shallots and soy sauce and toss to mix well.
- Cook the noodles according to the package directions, drain them, and then toss them with the garlic oil and shallots.
- Make a sauce with the remaining ingredients and drizzle it over the noodles.
- Garnish with scallions and serve with the remaining sauce for diners to add to taste.
More vegetarian recipes you’ll love
- Vegetarian Dan Dan Noodles
- Sweet and Sour Tofu
- TikTok’s Crazy Good Baked Feta Pasta
- Crispy Tofu
- Burmese Garlic Noodles
- Palak Paneer
- Instant Pot Mulligatawny
- Instant Pot Falafel
- Instant Pot Hummus
- Bombay Sandwiches
- Instant Pot Turmeric Congee
Garlic Noodles
Ingredients
- ¼ cup cooking oil safflower, sunflower, avocado
- 4 tablespoons minced garlic divided
- ¾ cup thinly sliced red onion soaked in water and drained
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1/2 cup sriracha 1 tablespoon minced ginger
- ¼ teaspoon sugar
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons water
- 12 ounces fresh Chinese wheat noodles I used a fresh Chinese Spaghetti
- 3 scallions thinly sliced, for garnish
Instructions
- In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, heat the oil. Add 3 tablespoons of the garlic and cook, stirring, until the garlic just begins to turn golden brown. Remove from the heat as soon as it begins to change color because the garlic will continue to brown in the hot oil. Transfer to a large, heat-safe serving bowl.
- Add the sliced red onion and soy sauce to the bowl with the garlic and oil. In a separate small serving bowl, combine the sriracha, the remaining tablespoon of garlic, the ginger, sugar, salt, and water and stir to mix well.
- Cook the noodles in boiling water according to the package directions. Drain the noodles and then immediately add them to the bowl with the garlic, oil, onions, and soy sauce and mix until the noodles are well coated with the oil and the onions are mixed in.
- Serve the noodles garnished with scallions and pass the sriracha mixture at the table for diners to add to taste.
It seems there’s a step missing. If we’re doing this: “In a separate small serving bowl, combine the sriracha, the remaining tablespoon of garlic, the ginger, sugar, salt, and water and stir to mix well”….what do we do with it? Keep it separate from soy, oil mix or add it in to that? Or do we add it to noodles separately later? Needing an instruction for what to do with that second mix.
In step 4 it says to serve the sriracha mixture with the noodles (for people to add themselves).