Sometimes noodles may not taste as good as you think it should. I tried cooking a packet of rice noodles I’ve not tried before and was dissatisfied with the taste. The ingredients comprising tomato paste, lime juice, palm sugar, soy sauce and pepper were great but the rice noodles were too starchy and its taste was overpowering. I should have used udon and I must say it’s fool-roof since udon is a tough and mild noodle. I’ve cooked a whole packet of it and couldn’t simply chuck it in the bin!
After some deliberation, I’ve come up with an idea. I cooked some sauce separately and topped it over the noodles – just like how pasta sauces are made. So this was what I did. I sliced 2 cloves of garlic, fried them in a pan of hot grapeseed oil and then added in the following: 2 tbsp sambal olek, 1 tbsp tamarind paste and 1 tbsp sugar. I mixed the sauce well until it boiled. Then the sauce was poured over the cooked noodles and mixed well. Sambal olek can be bought at any supermaket or local Asian grocery store. The result is awesome! The savoury and slightly tangy sauce has successfully overpowered the starchiness of the noodles. I’m happy with the outcome. Forget about food wastage!