Ten-Minute Garlic Noodles

01The whole thing is a sauce problem

Garlic noodles live or die by what coats them. The base is butter, a generous amount of it — at least two tablespoons for two portions — melted over medium heat until it foams. Into the foam go four or five cloves of garlic, minced fine or grated on a Microplane so they almost dissolve. Cook them gently, thirty seconds, just until the raw edge is gone but before any colour appears. A splash of soy sauce goes in next, a small spoon of oyster sauce if you have it, and a pinch of white pepper. That's your sauce. It takes longer to read than to make.

Here's the step people skip: add a ladle of the pasta cooking water — starchy, salty — and let it bubble into the butter for a minute before the noodles go in. That emulsification is what makes the sauce cling rather than pool at the bottom of the bowl. Without it, you get greasy noodles. With it, you get something that looks glossy and restaurant-adjacent.

Cook them gently, thirty seconds, just until the raw edge is gone but before any colour appears.

02Noodles, then eat

Any long noodle works. Dried ramen from a packet (discard the seasoning sachet), thin wheat noodles, spaghetti, linguine — whatever's in the pantry. Cook them to the shortest end of the packet's range so they finish in the pan rather than on the plate. Drain them, keeping a cup of the water, then toss directly into the sauce over medium heat for a minute, adding water by the splash if things tighten up. The noodles will look almost glazed when they're ready.

Finish with a few drops of toasted sesame oil — added off the heat, so the aroma stays bright — and a scatter of sliced spring onions. Chilli flakes if you want heat. The noodles don't need much else; the garlic has done the work. Eat them immediately, while the sauce is still glossy and the garlic is still singing.