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These meat-free Spicy Sambal Mushroom Noodles are the perfect weeknight meal. They come together SUPER quickly, are spicy, cozy and are utterly delicious.
Last week when I got back from Paris I was enjoying that jet lag life where I’d wake up at 4:30am and have nothing to do except lay in bed and drink coffee. Zero light outside doesn’t really inspire productivity. I turned to Facebook and fell down a deep hole of food videos. I watched this one on Bon Appetit Test Kitchen series and was like WOWW I WANT TO EAT THAT. I decided it was time to make these Spicy Sambal Mushroom Noodles!
Pork noodles made with a sweet and spicy tomato sauce. They look so ridiculously delicious. Since we were having a bit of a heatwave in Los Angeles AND I love to vegetarian-ize everything, I replaced the pork with oyster mushrooms (of course, you could use button mushrooms, cremini or shiitakes). We diced them up and cooked them in super hot oil.
We didn’t want mushroom mush, so we took them even further but cooking out the water and then getting to a point where they were sort of crunchy—delicious.
Then the sauce comes together super quickly. There’s sambal oelek—which is an Indonesian chili paste—which I prefer over Sriracha because it doesn’t have any sweet flavor to it—just spicy and flavorful.
After the sauce cooks for a bit just so the flavors are married, the pasta is added and tossed together. It’s a quick dinner recipe that IS SO GOOD.
How to Make Spicy Sambal Noodles!
- I like using a non-stick because it makes it a bit easier! In the medium skillet, warm up the oil. And then add the mushrooms and cook them until they soften. We’re going to taken them a bit further, for an additional 5 minutes so they get nice and crispy. We want texture!
- Next, you add all of the other sauce ingredients and let it come to a simmer so the sauce can thicken a bit.
- Meanwhile, you’re going to want to cook your noodles. I used these fancy noodles that I found at an Italian market. But really any noodles will do. You can use linguine, spaghetti, fettuchini or ramen noodles.
- When the noodles are al dente, you add them to the sauce and a bit of butter. Mix it all together AND BOOM! Dinner. I like this vegetarian version because it’s so delicious and tasty.
If you make this, let me know on Instagram!
Spicy Sambal Mushroom Noodles Recipe
Equipment
- 1 large non-stick skillet
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon neutral oil , (such as vegetable oil, avocado oil or sunflower oil)
- 1 pound oyster mushrooms, trimmed nd diced
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger, (from about 1-inch knob)
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tablespoon white granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 4 sprigs fresh basil , plus more as garnish
- 1/3 cup sambal oelek chili paste OR sriracha
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup rice wine vingar
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 1/2 pounds linguine or ramen noodles
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, (or skip if you want to make it vegan!)
Instructions
- To a large non-stick skillet (if you don't use a non-stick skillet you may need to add a bit more oil) pan, set over medium heat, add the oil. When the oil is hot, add the mushrooms and cooking and stirring them often, until they’re soft, about 5 minutes. Decrease the heat to medium-low and continue cooking until they’re crispy, about 5 more minutes.
- Next, add the fresh ginger and garlic; cook until softened about 2 minutes.
- Pour in the sugar, tomato paste, basil, sambal, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar and mix until combined. Pour in the water and bring to a gentle simmer. Cook for about 10 minutes just so all the flavors are married and the sauce thickens slightly.
- Meanwhile, to a pot of salted water, cook the paste until al dente. Immediately transfer the noodles to the pan with the sauce and add the butter. Toss until all the noodles are evenly coated in the sauce.
- Divide amongst bowls and garnish with basil.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
If you’re into these noodles, you might like these recipes:
Thanks. for the recipe really helped in cooking. My husband was satisfied.
Where do you get your noodles? They look heavenly
whole foods! i forget the brand…
No garlic in the ingredients? How many cloves?
You can never go wrong with a noodle dish and I love pairing noodles with mushrooms. This recipe would be perfect for an easy entertaining dish for company. Add some wine, egg rolls and dinner is served. Thank you, Adrianna, for this wonderful idea! Pinned!
Your version looks and sounds like it would be more interesting than the pork version! I want to give it a try with a few different types of mushrooms.
Oh yeah a combo of mushrooms would be delicious!
In step 1, we start with medium heat and decrease to medium heat? Is that a typo?
I like your riff on this recipe. I’ve been making it with pork and chicken both on the regular. Sometimes with fried eggs and always with lots of extra basil for serving.
I look forward to trying it out with mushrooms!!