I recently came across this recipe for Soy Sauce Noodles from a pair of my favorite bloggers – the team from Love and Olive Oil. I had their recipe in mind as spring rolled into summer and a happy duo of unusual ingredients found their way *somehow* into my shopping bag.
Purplish-Black Forbidden Rice Noodles
I am a huge fan of forbidden rice – just the name conjures deliciously naughty food. When I stumbled across these forbidden rice ramen noodles, I couldn’t say no. Please tell me that I am not the only sucker who’s eyes glaze over when I pass something new in the grocery store and it magically comes home with me. All this is made worse by the fact that I actually work at Whole Foods Makret – the food circus itself.
Be sure to brown the duck confit – that skin will get crispy and amazing. It’s already cooked, so it is just a matter of toasting it up nicely and crisping the skin.
A talented local butcher recently opened a butcher shop – a small deal that is only open for a few hours on the weekends. If you are in the Salt Lake City environs, make it a point to stop by Frody’s Salt & Smoke Artisan Meats. He does amazing brats (bacon brat – I’m still love you the most), cured meats like Elk Salami and unusual cuts. The first time I visited, right there in the case was the find of all finds, Duck Confit.
A Confit is another old fashioned way of preserving, but instead of saving summer bounty it is a way to preserve meat. The meat salted and then cooked submerged in some sort of fat – oil, grease, renderings, at very low heat for a very long time. Like, almost fall off the bone tender. It is then cooled and stored in said fat and it keeps and keeps. When you pull duck legs from their blanket of oil they are flavorful, tender and (bonus!) already cooked, so all you have to do is crisp up the skin and heat through.
Stir fries are a summer staple around here – who wants to heat up the kitchen by turning on the oven? Not me in our tiny apartment galley kitchen, let me tell you, things get blistering hot quickly and take hours to cool back down.
Use bright veggies to contrast with the dark noodles.
The noodles got cooked (fast) and the veggies got stir fried (fast) and the duck confit browned (fast) so that start to finish, this meal took 20 minutes to make, despite the fancy sounding name. It was a win on top of a win.
Salty, with loads of umami the duck and the noodles cooked up in a flash.
Confession: Once I took the photos and we actually sat down to eat, we shredded the duck and tossed it in with the noodles. Meant to take a photo of that too, but somehow everything got all eaten up before a photo could happen. A testament to just how good they were…
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Ingredients
- 3 Forbidden Rice Ramen Squares
- 2 teaspoons Soy Sauce
- 2 teaspoons Tamari
- 1 teaspoon Chili Oil
- 2 teaspoons Sesame Oil
- 1 tablespoon White Miso - I use Garbanzo Bean Miso
- 1 tablespoon Brown Sugar
- 2 legs Duck Confit - skin on
- 1 tablespoon Duck Fat
- 2 tablespoons Grapeseed Oil, divided. Only as needed.
- 2 cloves Garlic, minced
- 1 bunch Green Onions, sliced on a diagonal
- 1/4 lb Green Beans, chopped
- 1 Carrot, shredded
Method
- Bring 6 cups of water to boil over high heat. While it is coming up to a full rolling boil, make the sauce. Whisk together soy sauce, tamari, chili oil, sesame oil, miso and brown sugar. Make sure that the miso is fully incorporated. Set the sauce aside.
- Heat the duck fat over medium high heat in a large skilled or cast iron pan. Once it is warm add the duck confit drumsticks. Duck confit is already cooked through, so the goal is to brown the skin until crisp on both sides. Rotate the drumsticks from side to side until the skin is crispy and fragrant. Once it has reached that point, remove the drumsticks and set them aside. Do not remove the duck fat from the pan.
- In the meantime, add the forbidden rice ramen to the boiling water and cook according to package directions. It is ideal to boil them to just slightly undercooked.
- Thoroughly drain the ramen and add to the skillet the duck was cooking. If there is no longer the complete coating of duck fat in the pan, add 1 tablespoon of grapeseed oil before adding the noodles.
- Let the noodles cook without disturbing them for 3 minutes, then flip and cook for another 3 minutes on the reverse side. Remove the noodles to a bowl and return the pan to the fire. Add the garlic, green onion, and green beans to the pan (adding more oil if needed to keep the garlic from sticking). Cook for 2 minutes.
- Add the noodles back to the pan along with the sauce. Cook down the liquid for 1-2 minutes before adding the carrots. Remove from heat. Toss to incorporate all the vegetables.
- Serve with the duck confit nestled in the noodled or shred the duck and toss with the noodles.
This recipe looks so flavorful, and I hadn’t seen that soy sauce noodles recipes. I’m a sucker for all asian food.
I love Asian-inspired recipes as well. They are usually quick and easy to make with lots of veggies – always a win. Thanks for the comment and hope you follow along!
What a delicious-looking meal! I actually have never used a forbidden rice ramen noodles but next time I will watch out for it so I can try it. Lucky you to have such a great butcher nearby so you can have your duck confit anytime!
Abigail – forbidden rice noodles are rich and nutty flavored – they add this amazing dimension to food. I’ll be sure to tell my butcher just how lucky I am! Thanks for the comment and have a lovely day.
haha I had to laugh when you mentioned your eyes glazing over when you find a new food. That is totally me. I could NEVER work at Whole Foods. I’d never get any work done, it would be impossible.
Des
It is dangerous working at Whole Foods. I am the event planner so not only do I have a job that is almost play, I have chefs where I work that can make just about anything. Dangerous…
Lydia,
My house gets so hot in the summer! The kitchen windows face East, and are not well insulated, so I block out the sun with shades from June to September, keep the kitchen door shut, and mindfully cook to create less heat.
This summer it’s grilling and stir fries using the farm share.
I’ve never seen Forbidden Rice ramen squares, but they remind me a bit of soba noodles–another summer staple from my time in Japan.
This looks like a lovely way to eat in the summer–and I’d totally shred that duck and dive in.
Thanks!
Kristen – we have a CSA too and I love experimenting with different veggies. Forbidden Rice Noodles are a little like soba noodles, I’be been experimenting with doing cold noodle salads with Soba. Appreciate the comment. Best,
I’m excited to look for forbidden rice noodles next time I’m at the Asian grocery store. Thanks for the fun idea.
Barrett – they are seriously the best – slightly nutty flavored. You can find them in Asian stores and also Whole Foods. Let me know if you manager to find them and how they turn out.