Charles Phan's Glass Noodles with Crab

Oh, how far have I come. Do you see that little green sprig, so innocent, so gentle, lying up there sweetly on that pile of noodles? Just a few years ago, I would have rather chewed on a stick than put a bit of cilantro into my meal, and certainly not for a reason as frivolous as garnish. Feh. But today, bring on the cilantro in all its weird glory! I want to strew with it! I might even chew on it, for a bit.

This is what I like to call progress.

(See wan plate below for comparison: definitely in need of a little sprucing, wouldn't you say?)

Luckily, the dish itself is quite tasty even without the cilantro and, man, is it fast. I do believe this counts as one of the speediest meals I've ever made that involved turning on a stove (and that does not include scrambled eggs, thankyouverymuch).

A brief aside on the nitty gritty: First of all, I couldn't find glass noodles. I bought Thai rice noodles instead, because it's all I could find that was even close, even though this is a dish from a Vietnamese chef. Don't do what I did: the rice noodles really aren't right here because of their texture, even though I thought the dish still quite delicious. You need that sort of chewy, pliant wonderfulness of a glass noodle here. Second of all, I bought canned crab instead of fresh. It was way cheaper and wild-caught, which is more than I could say for the frozen stuff available at the fish store in Forest Hills. (Which, maddeningly, closes by 6:30 every night, without fail. And refuses to label where the fish comes from. And doesn't give a hoot about all of this stuff either. Out-of-work, ethically-minded, entrepreneurial fishmongers of New York: come to Queens, would you? We need you.) Ultimately, between all the flavorings and the ratio of noodle to sauce to crab, I couldn't tell that the crab was canned (it tasted pretty good, is what I'm trying to say).

The recipe comes from an old column called The Chef that used to run in the New York Times and that I adored. One of the section's writers, like Mark Bittman or Amanda Hesser, would go and spend some time with a chef (like Charles Phan of the Slanted Door in San Francisco, or Gabrielle Hamilton of New York City's Prune) and just shoot the breeze for a while, watching them cook, hearing them tell stories. That would get distilled into a little piece or several little pieces about the chef, his or her work and the restaurant they ran, with a few, truly choice recipes alongside (miraculously perfect for the home cook). That column is long-gone, sadly, and I never understood why. Does anyone reading this know Pete Wells? Tell him to bring back that column! It was such a gem.

I found these noodles to be compulsively edible. They slip down easily and are pretty light to boot. Plus the combination of oyster sauce, soy sauce, fish sauce and sesame oil is irresistible: salty, nuanced, toasty, just so good. This is fast food at its best, and if you buy canned crab, even if it's wild-caught, it's cheap food, too.

Glass Noodles with Crab
Serves 2 very hungry people or 3 to 4 regular eaters

2 packages (2 ounces each) thin glass (mung bean thread) noodles
2 tablespoons neutral oil, like corn or canola
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/4 cup trimmed and minced scallions
1 cup crab meat, free of shell
1 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
Fresh cilantro for garnish

1. Cover noodles in warm water for about 10 minutes. Drain.

2. Put oil in a wok or large skillet, and turn heat to high. A minute later, add garlic and half the scallions and, almost immediately, the noodles and crab. Toss, and stir to mix the ingredients.

3. Add the sauces, taste, and adjust seasoning as necessary. Toss with sesame oil and remaining scallions. Garnish, and serve.

Comments

[Adrienne]

Wow, that IS speedy. And it sounds pretty tasty. I'm all for cilantro, but glass noodles freak me out a bit. Also I'm not sure where to find them. Asian market?

[Anna]

yay! 2 posts in one week- what a bonus!

[Luisa]

Adrienne - ooh, I love them! All chewy and wonderful. Usually you can find them in any well-stocked grocery store that also carries Asian items. Sometimes they're sold as mung bean noodles, if that helps...

[codfish]

Your write-up was lovely and I wish I knew of that column.

Thankfully we have a great fishmonger out here in Buckingham, PA, that always has ethically caught , freshly picked crab on offer... Now I just need to find glass noodles.

[fried blue]

Looks great.
I have despised cilantro as long as I can remember. I love Vietnamese, Chinese and Indian food but always minus the cilantro. This makes me wonder if I should give it another chance. :)

[Almost Slowfood]

Yum! I love anything with fish sauce and crab. Can't wait for the next night when I want to just throw something together and have it taste amazing to boot...

[Luisa]

Fried Blue - so did I, until one fateful September day in Mexico a few years ago... For me, eating a fresh, delicious, homemade carne asada taco was my gateway into cilantro consumption. Don't get me wrong, I don't love the stuff. But I no longer have to pull it out of my food. In fact, I gobbled up a Vietnamese sandwich for dinner tonight that was fairly stuffed with cilantro. So, you never know... :)

[maggie (p&c)]

ooh lovely! a perfect quick dinner for these hot days. Sounds refreshing!

[Alejandra]

I've been craving Asian flavors lately (actually in another browser tab I'm working on a post about this very craving though I doubt I'll finish it tonight...too sleepy). But this recipe sounds perfect and exactly what I want right now. I'll be making it soon. I promise.

[Alejandra]

Oh and Pete Wells is on Twitter. Maybe you should ask him what he was thinking...

[Shauna from Piece of Cake]

I heart Charles Phan. Last weekend, I was invited to a party where all we did was drink champagne and eat food brought in from the Slanted Door. I was pinching myself, it was amazing!

[TheKitchenWitch]

Luisa, while I'm always happy to see a new post from you, shouldn't you be packing? Okay, I get it, this was quick...but I'm already with you (in my mind) in Italia...

Glass Noodles. About those. I can't get over the way those suckers stick together. Not just a little bit--mine always cling together like co-dependents; it's rather annoying.

Maybe (probably) it's a cooking problem on my part? Shoot, now it's 1 am and I want Slanted Door food. In Colorado. Rats.

[Luisa]

Alejandra - oh, the column was gone long before he became editor of the section.

KitchenWitch - tonight, tonight, I swear! :)

[Boracay hotel accommodation]

Delicious! This one sounds fast and easy to prepare. I like your post! Thanks!

[Barbara]

I remember one of my kids (when he was very young) was served scrambled eggs with a sprig of cilantro on top and his comment was: "what's that tree doing on my eggs?" And OK, so I will try to find the glass noodles before I make your dish.

[Ellen]

Sounds yummy. Korean sweet potato starch noodles are similar in texture to glass noodles. Don't know if they would be easier for you to find, but might work well.

[Sylvie]

What more do you need on a weekday night?! Lovely.

[Kary Gonyer]

Gosh, this looks so good ! The Slanted Door in san Francisco....some of THE BEST food I have EVER tasted !

I will try this before we slip into fall....

Best,
Kary

[kim]

Oh wow, I can't imagine ever starting to even tolerate cilantro, I loathe the stuff! I don't know how you did it, but it must make eating Thai/Indian easier. Glad the dish still can go without, I've been meaning to try out canned crab for something.

[Mama JJ]

Okay, Luisa, you are now responsible for my run last night to the Oriental Food Market where I picked up fish sauce, oyster sauce, bean thread noodles, and chili oil (for anyhow). All because of this post. Do you fully appreciate the power you wield with that computer of yours?!

Anyway, I talked with an Asian person at the store and she said to soak the noodles for 1 hour in cold water because warm water will make them get mushy and disintegrate. True?

[Luisa]

Oh, goodness, I have no idea! I confess I haven't ever made glass noodles myself. Can anyone else chime in?

[steph (whisk/spoon)]

i used to love The Chef column, too--what did happen to that?? this looks delicious, and since it worked out well with rice noodles, it may be just the thing to use up the packet i've had in the cupboard for ages!

[Marcia]

LOVED that column too! I still have several tattered clippings, includung a delicious salad with scrambled eggs from Cesare Casella. Thank you for reminding me of it!

[huebscher]

mama jj--I recently heard the same in a thai cooking class. lukewarm at hottest.

...if this is anything like the dish at the slanted door, it's fantastic. thanks for posting it!

[Baguette]

I think it`S a very spacial meal
:-)i love it.

[Allison Arevalo]

I made this last night - so easy and so tasty! I used shredded chicken because I didn't have any crab. I know how you feel about fish in Forest Hills. I lived there for a little over a year, and there was definitely a lack of good fish. Is that gourmet food store still on austin st., Natural I think it was called?

One thing that was great in Forest Hills? Indian food! Some of the best I've had.

[CattyinQueens]

MMMM! I can't wait to make those noodles!

I hear you on the Fo-hi Fish market. I do love grabbing some expensive but delicious scallops if I'm home before 6:30, but that is really not often enough--so it's Saturday or nothing, and usually nothing.

Allison brings up Natural, which is like my favorite place in the 'hood (I bought my little co-op because it's right by Natural. is that lame?) But they don't carry seafood at all, presumably because there used to be 2 fishmongers on Austin. There is definitely room for a new one, one that's invested in sustainable fishing. The store that closed down is pretty much ready for move-in, even has a nifty awning/sign still.

[juliapoet.blogspot.com]

This made a perfect midweek dinner. My attempt was tasty but quite messy...I'll do a better job next time! Thanks for introducing me to glass noodles. Following onto Mama JJ's comment, I would never have bought fish or oyster sauce without you pointing us to this recipe!
http://juliapoet.blogspot.com/2009/09/making-of-glass-noodles-with-crab.html

[KT]

I love noodles, love cilantro, will be trying this very soon!

[Marie]

Call me crazy, but I made this last night with canned clams instead of crab -- and it was delicious!!! The glass noodles were great, and that sauce is to die for. So glad you published this recipe -- its going to be a quick-and-easy go to for me! Thanks Luisa!

[Angie Food Muse]

Really looking forward to trying this simple dish. I've been trying to think of what to do with crab besides crab cakes!