Joyful Kitchen by Joy Stewart
Over spring break, my oldest son and I bonded over making lunch together. It was generally a wet and cold week, so we made a few hot lunches together. Secret sauce noodles, with their savory, sweet and tangy flavors was our clear favorite. Best of all, it uses a delicious Korean chili paste called gochujang that you can get at almost any supermarket. Gochujang is also fantastic in soup to add a gentle heat, especially miso soup and really good on so many other foods. It makes a great spicy and creamy sauce when added to mayonnaise. Look for it in a big plastic tub, keep it refrigerated, and use it on all of your rice and noodle dishes, even in your creamy pasta sauces.
What is the “secret” to secret sauce? Apart from Gochujang the secret ingredient is actually ketchup. The tart and distinctly tomato flavor of ketchup is mellowed by the sweet honey and spicy/savory/slightly sweet Gochujang. In combination with smoky, salty Worcestershire sauce, it actually tastes quite a bit like tamarind. Tangy and sweet tamarind is one of the flavors you can’t quite name in Pad Thai. To describe this dish is to call it reminiscent of Pad Thai, but also similar to Yakisoba, Japanese stir fry noodles, which have a salty, sweet, and sour sauce as well. If you have a mandolin slicer it will speed up this dish. As it is, the sauce quickly does the work in developing flavor for you making this a quick and easy delicious meal.
Secret Sauce Noodles
Serves 4
2 packages chow mein noodles, or 3 packages ramen noodles
2 medium carrots, cut into matchsticks
1 small yellow onion, sliced thinly
2 Tablespoons Neutral Oil
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1 cup cooked chicken, sliced thinly (see notes)
Sauce:
1 Tablespoon Soy Sauce
1/2 Tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
1 Tablespoon honey
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon gochujang or other hot sauce
2 Tablespoons Ketchup
Small pinch black pepper
For Serving:
2 Green Onions, sliced thinly
(optional) furikake or sesame seeds (see notes)
(optional) fried egg (see notes)
Method:
In a small bowl thoroughly mix together sauce ingredients. In a large pot of boiling water, boil the noodles for 2 minutes, drain noodles and set noodles aside. In the same pot over medium heat add sesame and neutral oils. Sauté vegetables until starting to soften, 2-3 minutes. Add chicken, noodles, and sauce. Also sliced scrambled egg (if using; see notes). Gently toss all ingredients together until everything has been warmed up and the sauce is coating the entire dish. Serve topped with sesame seeds or furikake and green onions. Also top each serving with a fried egg, if desired (see notes).
Notes:
For the shredded chicken you can use any precooked chicken. I like to use leftover rotisserie or roasted chicken. Furikake is a Japanese dry condiment consisting of shredded nori (seaweed), sesame seeds, salt, and often sugar. You can purchase a version of this condiment without sugar from Trader Joe’s. This dish is amazing topped with an over easy or over medium fried egg; if you decide to make it this way I recommend an egg on top of each serving. If you prefer scrambled egg I suggest using 2 eggs beaten and cooking them before you add any vegetables to the oil in a thin layer until just cooked through, set aside. Allow to cool before rolling up like a crepe and slicing thinly across the width. Toss in with the secret sauce at the end gently to reheat.
