INSIDE MY KITCHEN: GARLIC NOODLES

Everybody says that Beverly Hills restaurant, Crustacean, made "garlic noodles" famous!  Well I will have to disagree.  I grew up eating garlic noodles.  Im talking 25+ years of experience with these bad boys. My mom made these for us when she was pressed for time and had a limited pantry/fridge.

What kid does not like pasta with butter?!  I feel like "butter and noodles" is on every kids menu from here to Georgia...and I am not talking about the state within the United States!  

I have added baby bok choy for color and to get my vege fix, I replaced the salt with soy sauce, and the sugar (what kid doesnt like sugar, sugar???) with mirin or Japanese sweet rice wine.

You can make a big batch of these crowd pleasers for that late night addiction or a Sunday Funday brunch special...Garlic Noodles with Sunny side up egg and Bacon.  You know you want to try it.

RECIPE:

Noodles

1# Soba Noodles

2Qt  Water

2ea  Baby Bok Choy

Sauce

1/4# Butter, unsalted

3T  Garlic (minced)

4T Soy Sauce

4T Mirin

Bring 2qts of water in a stock pot to a boil.  Add a pinch of kosher salt to season the water.  Add the soba noodles in every direction into the water to keep them from sticking to one another.  Cook for 5 minutes and strain in a colander under cold running water reserving the cooking liquid for the bok choy.  If you do not cool the noodles down they will continue to cook and become very mushy and inedible.  Set aside and reserve until sauce is done.

In a large saute pan, over medium heat, saute garlic in the butter.  DO NOT LET THE BUTTER BURN.  You must be very careful with the heat of the stove when using a fat solid butter.  Clarified butter will not burn because the fat solids have been removed thru the process of clarification.

After 1 minute of cooking the garlic in the butter, add the mirin to the pan deglazing what food deliciousness has stuck to the pan.  Reduce the sweet rice wine half way...

Now add the soy sauce and the noodles.  Quickly toss to coat and reheat.

Using the same pasta water the soba noodles were cooked in...add two pinches of salt so it tastes like the Pacific Ocean.  Now add the quarted baby bok choy and cook for 30 seconds.  Strain the bok choy from the water and garnish around the noodles.

Using your tongs, scoop and twist the soba noodles into a pasta bowl and enjoy the simple decadence immediately.