I regularly crave foods I’ve eaten in restaurants. And by crave, I mean MUST HAVE NOW kind of cravings. Recently, it was the spicy Korean noodles from nearby Roosterspin that I wanted. Plan was to have dinner at home, so I decided I would find a recipe. Epic fail. Nothing I could find in my cookbooks or online sounded right. But did I panic? Heck no. I winged it. I’m kind of stubborn like that.
The original dish contains shrimp, scallops and calamari, but I only had shrimp so it would have to do, but add what you like or can find fresh. I also added zucchini along with peppers and onions for more veg. But all of that is simply a vehicle for the spicy, salty, sweet sauce. That’s what I wanted, that delicious heat. Gochujang is the key ingredient, adding heat and color.
The noodles here are udon, but you can substitute your favorite noodles: rice noodles would work well here.
By the way, gochujang is a spicy, super yummy Korean paste that you can find in Asian markets, and even in the Asian section of some supermarkets. It appears in tons of Korean recipes, like the noodles featured on this page these beef lettuce wraps.
Oh! and one more thing. Scroll down below the post and you can now find nutrition information! Pretty cool, huh? I’ll be adding them for future recipes and will try to update old posts with the info too.
- 8 oz. Udon or noodles of your choice
- 1-2 Tbsp. gochujang
- 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp sugar(optional)
- 2 tsp. canola oil
- 1 tsp. sesame oil
- ½ red pepper, sliced
- ½ green pepper, sliced
- 1 small onion, sliced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 lb. shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 1 small zucchini, cut into half moons
- 1 scallion, thinly sliced
- Black or regular sesame seeds (optional)
- A few sprigs of cilantro, for garnish (optional)
- Cook noodles according to package directions, rinse and set aside.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the gochujang, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar and sugar.
- Heat the canola and sesame oils in a wok or large frying pan over medium-high heat. When hot, but not smoking, add the onion and peppers and stir-fry for about a minute.
- Add the shrimp, garlic and a couple tablespoons of the sauce and stir-fry until the shrimp are cooked thru, about 3-4 minutes.
- Toss in the zucchini and cook for another minute. Add the noodles and remaining sauce and toss to coat.
- Cook until the noodles are heated thru.
- Serve sprinkled with scallions, sesame seeds and a few leaves of cilantro.
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