Chinese Southern Belle

Ni Hao Y'all

  • Home
  • About
  • What We Do
  • Events
  • Contact
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • News
  • Recipes
    • Home Chef Recipes
    • Food Service Recipes
  • Eating In
  • Eating Out
  • Food Justice
  • Shop
    • Store/Order Here
    • Store Locator
    • My Account
    • Food Service
  • Testimonials
    • Sauce Reviews
    • Class & Event Reviews

Mom’s Chinese Spaghetti: Twirl Your Way to Long Life!

chinese spaghetti pasta

Mom’s Chinese Spaghetti recipe is a family and party FAVORITE especially with kids! A great way to “sneak in” veggies with pasta. Equally good mild or spicy. We cook up noodles for birthdays since long noodles represent longevity in Chinese culture so don’t cut your birthday noodles! Good with any kind of pasta. We made a Chili Spaghetti version of this (adding beans) and served it up at a town Cook-off. It was a hit with all ages!

This is a home chef adaptation of Shanghai Spicy Noodles. A vegetarian version is easy, simply omit the ground meat. It’s delicious with the chopped Vidalia Sweet Onion, cabbage, celery, zucchini simmered in sauce. The key is finely chopping the vegetables into bits (easiest in food processor) so it’s saucy and flavorful as part of the sauce rather than being a chunky stir fry.

You can use any noodles you have on hand– regular or whole wheat spaghetti, linguine–any shape, really. We like long, skinny noodles for long life slurping and twirling! For a special treat, enjoy with fresh Asian-style yellow lo mein noodles (sold in refrigerated or frozen section of Asian groceries and some large supermarkets. Boil as directed or like fresh pasta).

We hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do at home!

READ Natalie’s Noodle article (co-written with Shelley Skiles Sawyer) in Flavors Magazine

noodlesUse Your Noodle! History You Can Eat

Noodles have been a staple food in many parts of the world for at least 2,000 years. Did you know that a 4,000 year-old bowl of noodles was unearthed in northwestern China, made from two kinds of millet, cultivated 7,000 years ago! China claims the earliest historical account of noodles. Wheat flour and some noodle technology came from the Middle East, and Italy popularized pasta to the rest of the world.

Noodles were first referred to as “soup cake” in Chinese culture. Different references in the language apply to wheat and dough, so the “cake” implies dough, like a dumpling. “It probably started as a dough ball or chunk that was steamed or boiled and eaten in soup or a broth. Then maybe they decided to roll, pull and cut it. The rest is history!”

Arab merchants first journeyed to the Guangzhou province in China in the fourth century and established trade routes between Asia, India, Africa and Europe. Experts widely agreed that is how the noodle made its way to Europe. Historians also peg the first production of dried noodles to fifth-century Arabs, who were looking for portable sustenance for long journeys along those busy routes. Wheat flour also originally came from the Middle East. It was the Italians, however, who popularized pasta for the rest of the world.

The main distinction between Asian noodles and European pasta is the source ingredient. With Asian noodles, there’s much more variety in what we make them with. The shape isn’t really the focus. Asian noodles may be made from wheat flour, rice flour, millet, mung bean, buckwheat, sweet potato flour or a combination of them. The majority of Asian noodles are fashioned into strands that can be long, short, thick, thin, straight, curly or wrinkly.

Prep Time:

40 min (or 20 min with Sauce Shortcut)

Cook Time:

20 min

Feeds:

4

Ingredients:

*Sauce base:

1/2 c. hoisin sauce
2 T veg (canola/safflower) oil
2 T soy sauce
2 T sesame oil
1 T minced garlic
1 T minced fresh ginger
1 T sugar
1/2 t white pepper

1/2 c. finely chopped Vidalia Sweet Onion (or regular white/yellow)
1/4 cup water
Extra toasted sesame oil - 1 T
Spicy kick: 1 t Asian hot chili paste or red pepper flakes (optional)

*Super Sauce SHORTCUT: Substitute mix of 1 CUP Chinese Southern Belle's YOU SAUCY THING soy ginger Vidalia sauce + 1/4 cup WILD WILD EAST Teriyaki sauce for first 8 ingredients listed in Sauce Base.

Vegetables and Meat (to be cooked first then mixed into Sauce Base)

16 oz. Spaghetti noodles, cooked and drained
Finely chopped veggies 2 cups: cabbage, celery, yellow squash/zucchini
1 lb. ground pork (traditional), beef or blend
1/2 c. slivered green onions
2 T oil
½ t black pepper
1 t salt

Slivered cucumbers, cilantro or sesame seeds for garnish

Instructions:

In small bowl combine all sauce base ingredients plus water, except chopped onion. In large skillet or wok, heat 2 T oil on medium until hot, add most of your green onions (leave a little bit for garnish), pepper, salt, saute 30 seconds. Add ground meat, saute and break into little pieces until barely pink, about 3 minutes. Add sauce base to meat in pan. Mix and cook another 2 minutes until meat is done/brown and sauce is bubbly. Simmer low 5 minutes.

While meat mixture is simmering, in separate skillet, heat 1 T veg oil, saute garlic, ginger, and vegetables 2 minutes. Combine with meat sauce in larger pan. Simmer together low, uncovered about 10-15 minutes until meat and vegetables mixture is bubbly and sauce has thickened a bit.

Serve sauce mixture over warmed noodles. Add a little extra 1/4 t sesame oil on each plate of noodles before serving, if desired. Garnish with slivered cucumbers, chopped cilantro, extra scallions, or sesame seeds.

Recipe Tag: Beef, cabbage, Chinese food, ginger, hoisin, noodles, pasta, pork, spaghetti, vidalia onion
Category: Creative/Fusion, My Sauces


June 24th, 2017 by natalie

Tweet this!Share on Facebook!Pin it!Print this recipe!

Categories

  • Stir Fry
  • Vegetarian
  • My Sauces
  • Wild Wild East
  • You Saucy Thing
  • My Sweet Hottie Sauce
  • Traditional
  • Easy Peasy-Under 30 Minute Recipes
  • Food Service
  • Creative/Fusion

Tags

  • Chinese food
  • Asian food
  • rice
  • ginger
  • chicken
  • Chinese cooking
  • stir fry
  • vegetarian
  • teriyaki
  • cooking
  • recipe
  • sushi
  • asian cooking
  • vegetables
  • cabbage
  • Home
  • About
  • Store
  • Contact Us
  • Sitemap

© Copyright 2016 Chinese Southern Belle LLC · 404-494-0088 · Email · Food Service · Privacy Policy · Terms of Use · Newsletter Archive

Ni Hao, Y'All®, Chinese Southern Belle®, Opening Minds, One Mouth At A Time® are registered trademarks of Chinese Southern Belle LLC

Site by BretWP

Next Up
Farm to Wok: Asian Greens and Vegetables Stir Fry

This Asian Greens and Vegetables Stir Fry is a popular family favorite. It is a dish that highlights the color…

Previous
Spicy Sweet & Sour Beanthread Noodle Salad

Learn More about the past of the Spicy Sweet & Sour Beanthread Noodle Salad! Noodles have been a staple food in…