Ever since I first laid my eyes on Lady and Pups Dan Dan Noodle recipe, it’s all I’ve been able to think about. Thin, tender noodles with a spicy garlic sauce perfect for slurping. I mean, does it get any better than that?

We have a Chinese grocery store just a few miles from my house - Uwajimaya. It has every single Chinese, Japanese, and Korean ingredient you could imagine. I occasionally head over there, knowing full well that I will spend at least an hour or two looking through the aisles at all of the ingredients. My son loves it as well. His favorite cuisine, by far, is Japanese, so I always promise him some slurpy noodles, and it’s like offering him his choice of candy at the candy store. He sits there quietly in the cart, wide eyes, taking in everything, periodically shouting out demands for noodles or those tiny little hamburger candies. It’s a blast.

A few weeks ago, I popped over to Uwajimaya to pick up some yakisoba noodles and some Lee Kum Kee Chiu Chow Chili Oil to start experimenting with a spicy noodle dish of my own. I had to tame down the chili oil so that my kids would be able to eat it. They are pretty good with spicy foods, but they are not quite at my level of enthusiasm. So, for those people who don’t fair well with spicy dishes, this one will be perfect for you because you can add as much garlic chili oil as you desire.

In this dish, you have a vegetarian ground beef (feel free to use regular ground beef) sauteed in oil with onion and garlic. Broccoli, cashews, yakisoba noodles, and a spicy garlic peanut chili oil, and then topped with green onions. It’s umami flavors are on point. It’s warm and comforting and so amazingly delicious. It’s the perfect noodle dish to be eating with chopsticks, twisted into a messy pile into your mouth, and then the sauce slurped up with a spoon. Is there any other way to eat noodles?

Spicy Garlic Noodles with Broccoli and Cashews

serves 2

• prep time - 10 minutes

• cooking time - 10 minutes

SAUCE INGREDIENTS

• 3 tbsp of mushroom or oyster sauce

• 3 tbsp of soy sauce

• 2 tsp of sugar

• 1 tbsp of smooth peanut butter

• 1 tbsp of garlic chili oil (add more for extra spiciness) (Lee Kum Kee Chiu Chow Chili Oil)

• 1/2 cup of water

NOODLE INGREDIENTS

• 3 tbsp of oil

• 1/4 onion, diced

• 3 garlic cloves, minced

• 1 cup of vegetarian or regular ground beef (I like Morning Star)

• 1 1/2 cups of chopped broccoli

• 1/2 cup unsalted cashews

• 11 oz of pre-cooked yakisoba or ramen noodles

• 1 -2 green onions, sliced

DIRECTIONS

1. In a small bowl, whisk the mushroom sauce, soy sauce, sugar, peanut butter, chili oil, and water. Set to the side.

2. Prepare all of your ingredients and arrange in bowls, a mise en place. When cooking Asian noodle dishes, it is important to keep the wok set to high heat. It is much easier having all of your ingredients laid out in front of you, so you can add them to the wok and fry quickly at a high heat without burning.

3. Heat 3 tbsp of oil in a wok, on med-high heat.

4. Add the onions and cook until soft.

5. Add the garlic and cook for a minute or two until it becomes fragrant. Do not let it brown.

6. Add the veggie ground round and cook until it starts to brown.

7. Add the broccoli and cashews and cook for a few minutes until the broccoli has turned bright green.

8. Add the sauce and the noodles and cook for a few minutes until the noodles are soft.

9. Top with green onions and serve warm. Can add more garlic chili oil for spice.