In this video, Chef John whips up a batch of Spicy Lettuce Noodles, a surprisingly quick and vibrant dish. Learn how to balance sweet, sour, and spicy flavors in this unique noodle creation, perfect for a fast, flavorful meal. Tossed with fresh lettuce and a bold sauce, these noodles are a delicious twist on a classic.
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00:00Hello this is Chef John from foodwishes.com with Spicy Lettuce Noodles.
00:07That's right, as Homer Simpson once said, you don't win friends with salad, which is
00:13true. But as I found out, you can win friends with lettuce served in a spicy
00:19garlicky noodle dish like this. And to get started, we're gonna take some hearts
00:24of romaine, as well as some little gem, and we're gonna go ahead and cut this
00:28into like one-inch strips. And the reason I like these two varieties, besides that
00:33we're able to grow them here, is that they have a little rib that runs down
00:36the center of the leaf, which is actually gonna stay crunchy even as the thinner
00:41parts get soft and flexible, which is what I think gives us the perfect
00:45textural combination. And as you can see, the best way to cut this is just to
00:49stack the leaves together, and then sort of roll them up a little bit and slice
00:53across. And for two generous portions, we're gonna need to cut up about six
00:57ounces of lettuce total. So that's exactly what I did. And once that's done,
01:02we'll set it aside, and we'll head to the stove, where we will heat the vegetable
01:06oil of our choice over medium-high heat. And once our oil is hot, we'll transfer
01:11in some sliced shallots, which could just be some sliced red onions, as well as
01:15some freshly chopped green onions, plus a very large amount of finely minced
01:19garlic. And what we'll do is cook that stirring for about a minute or two, or
01:24until those shells start to soften up and turn translucent. And by the way,
01:28stirring is fine, and I'm a big fan of stirring, but if you can learn how to
01:33flip food in a pan, that's always gonna be a little easier and faster, and look
01:37cooler. But regardless, once that's cooked for a couple minutes, we will transfer in
01:43the rest of the ingredients, which will include some brown sugar, some rice
01:47vinegar, some Asian fish sauce, like between 1 and 3 tablespoons, depending on
01:52how strong you want this. We will also do a small touch of soy, followed by a nice
01:58big spoon of Asian-style ground chili sauce, which usually goes by the name
02:02sambal. We'll also do a nice big spoon of tamarind paste, which is fruity, citrusy,
02:08and very, very sour. And then we'll finish up with a very generous squeeze of
02:12sriracha hot sauce. And that's it! Just as soon as this is all mixed together,
02:16either by swirling the pan, or stirring, or both, we will turn off the heat, and
02:22we'll push that aside, and reserve it until needed. And of course, how much of
02:26everything you add is gonna be up to you. I mean, you guys are after all the deans
02:30of your spicy noodles with greens, and exactly how spicy, and salty, and sweet
02:35this is, is gonna be your call. And once our sauce is set, somewhere nearby, we
02:40will add whatever noodles we're using to some boiling salted water. And this time,
02:45I'm using thin spaghetti, which I think works great, but I've done this with
02:49thicker egg noodles, as well as rice noodles, and they all work really well.
02:53The only difference, of course, is you'll have to adjust the cooking timing method,
02:57depending on what you're using. And by the way, since we're gonna cook this in
03:01our sauce for about a half a minute, I generally will cook it about 30 seconds
03:05less than I normally would for a regular pasta dish. That way, by the time
03:09everything gets into the bowl, it should be perfect. And that's it! Once our noodles
03:14are cooked, we'll use some tongs to fish those out, and transfer it into our pan
03:18of sauce. And yes, a fair amount of water is coming with it, which is exactly what
03:23we want. And once we have all that transferred in, we'll turn our heat to
03:27medium-high again, and we will cook this stirring for about 30 seconds, just to
03:32give our noodles time to absorb some of the sauce. And believe it or not, that's
03:36all there is to it! We will pull that off the heat, and transfer it into our bowl
03:41of lettuce, and we will start tossing, and we will keep tossing, until that lettuce
03:47slightly softens up, and it's evenly and thoroughly coated with what's basically
03:51a hot dressing. And you can, if you want, just barely toss this, and just give it a
03:56few seconds, and then serve up. Or you can keep tossing for like five minutes, which
04:01will make for a softer, more wilted lettuce. So it really all depends on your
04:05preferred texture. But for me, after tossing for about a minute, I think it's
04:09ready to serve up. And then as far as garnishes slash finishing touches go, I'm
04:15gonna serve this with a nice big piece of lime to squeeze over the top, as well
04:18as a little more hot sauce. And then last but not least, some freshly snipped
04:23cilantro leaves. And that's it! My spicy lettuce noodles were ready to enjoy! So I
04:29squeezed some fresh lime over, and gave it a toss, and went in for the official
04:33taste. And that my friends, lettuce aside, is just a really simple great spicy
04:38garlic noodle dish. And even if this didn't include any other ingredients, I
04:43still think you'd thoroughly enjoy it. But when you factor in that subtle
04:47bitter sweetness of the lettuce, which while warm, is still a little bit crunchy,
04:51especially in the thickest part of those ribs we mentioned earlier, you're eating
04:56something that's not just delicious. It's actually very, very interesting. And I'm
05:00not talking about like when you ask someone what they think of your new
05:03shirt, and they say, yeah, it's interesting. Right, the kind of interesting I'm talking
05:08about here, is referring more to how this is fun to eat, and unusual, and out of the
05:13ordinary, in a good way. And by the way, if you're a fan of Thai food, and you're
05:17thinking, hey, those are a lot of the same ingredients in Pad Thai, I wonder if it
05:21tastes a little something like that? Well, you know what? It does. In fact, around the