Garlic Chili Oil Noodles with Shrimp

October. Halloween approaches. I will buy candy. I will sit on the porch. I will give Snickers to small people in costumes. The virus may have cancelled the boil and the cooking classes and church, but it will not cancel Halloween. A sixty-five-year-old woman distributing candy from a folding chair at a safe distance is not a superspreader event. It's community service.

I had a visitor this week who surprised me. Derek called from Charleston and asked if he could come see me. Not the restaurant — me. He drove up on Saturday, stood in my driveway in a mask, and we talked for an hour. He told me his restaurant is struggling — COVID hit restaurants like a hurricane — but he's doing takeout and he's surviving. He said the shrimp and grits — Granny Dot's Shrimp and Grits — is his best seller. I said, "Of course it is." He said, "You're not humble, are you?" I said, "Baby, I'm sixty-five. Humble is for people with time to waste."

He asked about the book. I don't know how he knew — Kayla, probably, because Kayla cannot keep a secret any more than her mother Denise can, and the apple does not fall far from the gossip tree. I told him about it. The recipes, the stories, the recordings. He said, "Miss Dot, when that book comes out, I want to do an event at my restaurant. A dinner. Your recipes. My kitchen. Your story." I said, "We'll see," which means yes, same as it always means yes.

Made shrimp and grits tonight. In Derek's honor. Stone-ground grits, fresh shrimp, the whole ceremony. I ate it at the table and I thought about the boy who came through my lunch line hungry and the man who drove two hours to stand in my driveway, and the distance between them is exactly the distance food travels when it's given with love.

Now go on and feed somebody.

I didn’t have stone-ground grits in the house every single night, but I always have shrimp, and shrimp carries the same memory just fine. After Derek stood in that driveway and told me my recipe was keeping his restaurant alive, I needed to cook something that honored him back — something with heat and garlic and a little boldness, same as the man himself. These noodles with shrimp are not what I fed him through a lunch line thirty years ago, but they’re made with the exact same intention: feed somebody well, and mean it.

Prep Time: 10 min | Cook Time: 15 min | Total Time: 25 min | Servings: 4

Ingredients

8 oz lo mein or spaghetti noodles
1 lb large shrimp, peeled and deveined
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons chili oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (adjust to taste)
1/2 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons neutral oil (such as vegetable or avocado)
3 green onions, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
Salt, to taste

Instructions

Cook the noodles. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook noodles according to package directions until al dente. Reserve 1/4 cup pasta water, then drain and set aside.
Make the sauce. In a small bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, sesame oil, rice vinegar, and sugar. Set aside.
Cook the shrimp. Heat the neutral oil in a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Season shrimp lightly with salt. Add shrimp in a single layer and cook 1—2 minutes per side until pink and just cooked through. Transfer to a plate.
Bloom the garlic and chili oil. Reduce heat to medium. Add chili oil to the same skillet. Add sliced garlic and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring, for 60—90 seconds until fragrant and just golden. Do not let garlic burn.
Combine. Add the drained noodles to the skillet and toss to coat in the garlic chili oil. Pour in the sauce and a splash of reserved pasta water. Toss over medium heat for 1—2 minutes until everything is well combined and glossy.
Finish the dish. Return the shrimp to the pan and toss gently to incorporate. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt or additional soy sauce as needed.
Serve. Divide into bowls and top with sliced green onions and toasted sesame seeds. Serve immediately.

Nutrition (per serving)

Garlic Chili Oil Noodles with Shrimp — Miss Dot’s Kitchen, Derek’s Heart