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I am a noodle fiend, so I got very excited when I saw these udon noodles at my local Kroger grocery store here in Seattle. Back in Chicago, it’s not as easy to find thick fresh noodles outside of an Asian market. The best part about fresh noodles is they only need to soak in hot water to cook them, which means quicker than fried rice. I chopped up so much garlic and cooked it until it was golden in the oil to make the perfect base, followed up with soy sauce, oyster, water, chili sauce, and honey before tossing the sauce with my noodles. If you’re not a fan of heat, just sub ketchup instead of chili sauce. No cornstarch! The heat from the pan helps to create a sauce, so add more water if the sauce gets too thick. Toss until the noodles are hot and saucy, then finish with lime wedges and fresh cilantro.

Noodle dishes like this one are versatile. If you don’t have udon, if you don’t have oysters, there is always a substitution. Don’t let anyone prevent you from getting your noodle game on. You can use thick spaghetti or wider noodles like pappardelle or malfati. For oyster sauce, you can simply use more soy sauce and more honey. Oyster sauce is essentially a sweet and salty soy-based sauce.

Using cornstarch in Chinese dishes is a great placeholder for a great sauce, that night, but when you’re just making a quick noodle dish, no starch is necessary. The water and soy in this recipe start to evaporate and the honey thickens that concentrate, which makes the final noodle perfectly salted. If you want to add vegetables, don’t cook them with this sauce right away because it will make them overly salty. Mix cooked vegetables once the noodles have been coated in sauce, then toss in and adjust the seasoning to prevent over-salting.

If you haven’t gotten into buying fresh noodles at your local grocery store or Asian market, YOU ARE MISSING OUT! There is a huge selection of all types of fun, chewy noodles you have to try. It’s worth taking a trip to check out what new things you can fall in love with.