The name drunken noodles apparently has quite a few meanings. I’ve read that it is used to cure hang-overs and I’ve read that it is so spicy, it is an implication to how much you will drink while eating it. Through experience I’ve found that neither of these are really necessary to enjoy some nice drunken noodles. Hangover or not, alongside a beer or not, these noodles are just plain good.
It all started as an innocent trip to the neighborhood Thai restaurant and ended as a full-on obsession with these noodles. “Were getting drunken noodles on Sunday!” I (soberly) exclaimed on a Thursday night. We didn’t get them that Sunday, but I’ve been thinking about them ever since, wondering if a home-made version would be anything like that flavorful bowl of chewy rice noodles I had at the restaurant.
The recipe inspiration came from an old Bon Appétit but there was some major tweaking that occured. I didn’t get the chance to stop by an Asian market so I used my low-sodium standard soy sauce instead of the “black soy sauce” and the “light soy sauce” which to me sounds like when mixed together it makes regular soy sauce? Someone, please enlighten me. From the general idea of the sauce I took it to a veggie-filled meal that tuned out to be just as addicting as those take-out noodles.
Drunken Noodles – 2 servings (As I’ve mentioned before I generally only make about 2 servings (which is probably more like 4 actual servings) of pasta or we eat too much 
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 jalapeños, chopped *I like spicy food, if you don’t want it too hot, decrease the amount of peppers!
- 2 Tbsp canola oil
- 2 servings rice noodles (wide ones)
- 1 red pepper, chopped
- 1 green pepper, chopped
- 1/4 white onion, chopped
- 2 cups spinach
- 2 Tbsp fish sauce
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1 pinch sugar
- 4 leaves basil, thinly sliced
Prepare the rice noodles as directed. Set aside.
Prepare the sauce: mix the fish sauce, soy sauce and sugar and set aside.
Heat the oil in wok over medium-high heat. When oil is hot, add garlic and jalapeños and stir-fry for about 3-4 minutes.
Add sauce, peppers and onions and stir-fry until peppers are crisp-tender, another 3-4 minutes.
Add noodles and spinach and toss until spinach has wilted and noodles are coated with sauce.
*I served our noodles with some crispy tofu instead of adding meat to the noodles.
I used my new wok to prepare this meal, which was sent to me by CSN Stores as part of their preferred blogger program. Thoughts on the wok? It did seem a little easier to stir-fry, although certainly not necessary, and there was definitely less stove top clean-up as it kept everything in the pan! And I did feel like a professional 
The pan itself was also very easy to clean up, now I just need to find somewhere to put it!
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{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
This looks so great! Between our garden goods and the noodles and fish sauce I picked up at the Asian market recently I have everything to make it. Can’t wait!
I’ve never ordered the Drunkin noodles before, but by the looks of the ingredients, I would love it.
Yum! These look so colorful, healthy and delicious. I am officially reading for lunch! Thanks!
Do you de-seed your jalapenos? If not, I bet this is hella spicy! I put one into the chana masala I like to make and it blows our faces off.
This looks absolutely divine by the way!
I didn’t de-seed them…but they were two small ones. (And I like spicy!)
These look fantastic – I love the spice! And I love how you snuck in so many veggies. I bet they would be great with some shrimp added in too.
I love drunken noodles – I haven’t had them in years because I’m always nervous about the heavy hand they use at restaurants, but this recipe is totally doable. I want to try these with even thicker (wider) noodles. Do you ever use shirataki?
I didn’t make the trip to the Asian Market, but I originally wanted to find wider ones.
Shirataki noodles are a GREAT idea! I haven’t had them in a few years – let me know if you try it with them!
This looks fantastic! Looks like it is packed with delicious vegetables! Your new wok looks ready to go :0)
I don’t like fish sauce. Do you think it would take away from the taste of these yummy looking noodles if I omitted it?
It might a little bit, kind of hard to say because it’s not like you really can taste the fish sauce, but I think it adds depth to the sauce. Otherwise it is essentially soy sauce.
looks so fresh!
i love ordering drunken noodles, now i’m glad i know what’s in them!
YUM YUM YUM! i need to make this – i love that your recipes are so accessible and never require a million ingredients!
hope you are well
a great reason to pull out the wok!
My cousin recommended this blog and she was totally right keep up the fantastic work!
Whatever the origin of the name, this looks delicious!
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