Garlic Noodles with Crab (20 Minutes!)

5 from 17 votes

Garlic Noodles with Crab (20 Minutes!)

These simple but delicious Garlic Noodles with Crab are so easy to make at home! This Asian fusion dish is everything you want in a garlicky noodle dish that's loaded with umami and a great dish on its own or as a side dish! This version has crab but you could easily omit it for a traditional Garlic Noodle dish!

Prep Time10

Cook Time10

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Asian, Hawaiian, vietnamese

Servings:

Author: Chris Joe

Ingredients

16 oz Noodles I recommend fresh Pancit egg noodles
6 tablespoons Unsalted Butter
20 cloves Garlic minced
2 tablespoons Oyster Sauce 30ml
2 tablespoons Fish Sauce 30ml
1 tablespoon Light Soy Sauce 15ml
1/4 teaspoon MSG optional 1g
1/2 tablespoon sugar 6g
¼ cup hot water
8 oz fresh or canned crab meat

Instructions

In a small bowl, combine oyster sauce, fish sauce, light soy sauce, MSG optional, and sugar, and hot water. Mix to combine and sugar is dissolved and set aside.
Cook noodles to package directions and drain well and set aside, reserving a cup of the noodle cooking water for the sauce to use as needed.
In a large pan over medium low heat, melt butter, then add minced garlic and sauté for 2 minutes until fragrant but not browned. Add the sauce and bring to a low simmer and cook for 2 minutes to reduce slightly, then add the crab and mix in to warm through.
Turn the heat up to high, then add cooked noodles. Mix well until the noodles are combined with the butter, garlic, sauce, and crab and continue cooking for another 1-2 minutes and the noodles are fragrant.
Garnish with scallions and enjoy!

Notes

Crab Meat: I prefer using fresh, lump crab meat for this recipe, but you could certainly use canned crab or swap out the protein entirely for one like chicken, shrimp, or steak.

Don't Burn Your Garlic: You want to INFUSE the butter with all of the garlic flavor - do not brown or burn your garlic (otherwise your sauce will taste bitter). Cook your butter and garlic over medium low heat - do NOT use high heat for this step of the dish.

Adjusting the Sauce: Depending on the type of noodles you are using, the sauce may be too wet or too dry. If too wet, continue cooking over high heat until the sauce thickens up and evenly coats the noodles. If the sauce is too dry, add 1/4 cup of the noodle cooking water to the dish to add a creamier consistency.

Storage: These noodles can be made ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. To reheat, simple add them to a pan with about a 1/4 cup of hot water to help loosen up the noodles and reheat the sauce. Cook over medium high heat until warmed throughout!

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