Quick and tasty noodle recipes to wake up your midweek dinners

Last Sunday, my friend took me to the Radna Silom street market on Hollywood Boulevard in Thai Town, and while we were looking over the menu, she said, “Oh, we HAVE to get their pad Thai.” I immediately gave her a look that read, “Really?” And she responded, “I know, I know, why would I bring you here just to have pad Thai, but trust me.” Don’t get me wrong, I like pad Thai, but it’s one of those dishes that once you’ve had a dozen versions, you kinda get the point — and you either love it or can pass on it. As someone who rarely cares for noodles but eats rice every day, I usually pass.

But this pad Thai was, indeed, very different. There was none of the usual flavor wallop of sweet peanut; instead, it was sour and pungent from lots of lime juice and fish sauce. The noodles were teeming with fried small shrimp that broke like cracklings with each bite. And it had plenty of chile heat to get the crown of your scalp sweating without burning out your tongue. It made me change my tune on noodles (at least temporarily) and made me think about all the other great dishes I’ve had in years past that brought me back to seeing noodles in a new light.

Genevieve Ko’s Spicy Chili Crisp Noodles are what first come to mind. A quick sauce of chili crisp enhanced with Chinese black vinegar, sesame oil and fresh ginger comes together in less time than it takes to boil whatever noodles I have in my pantry. Add a little cilantro if you have it, and you’ve got a perfect meal that’s spicy, satisfying and better than any takeout you can get.

My Sesame Cold Noodles With Crab and Crunchy Vegetables takes a little more work, but the payoff is worth it. Again, black vinegar and sesame oil dress up a chili crisp-based sauce, but this one has Chinese toasted sesame paste added for a creamy texture. The sauce blankets egg noodles that then get topped with lots of thinly sliced napa cabbage, cucumbers and red onions and brightened with lots of fresh jumbo lump crab meat.

For another genius quick noodle dish, try Ko’s Rainbow Curry Rice Noodles, which have only five ingredients. Coconut milk is infused with red curry paste and shallots until thick and aromatic, perfect for coating tender rice noodles and crunchy ribbons of carrot.

Chili crisp shows up once again, but this time dressed up with tomato paste, Vietnamese shrimp paste and Asian chile oil, in Angela Dimayuga’s Spicy Shrimp Paste Noodles. Ramen is the easiest and best choice of noodle for the intensely flavorful sauce. But yakisoba or any other wheat- or egg-based noodles will work.

And if you’ve got leftover roast pork, ribs or grilled pork chops, make Susan Vu’s Bun Bowls With Sautéed Cabbage, Mushrooms and Spare Ribs. Vu — who turned me on to Radna Silom’s pad Thai — deconstructs Vietnamese spring rolls (chả giò) here, tossing rice vermicelli noodles with an electrifying nuoc mam made with lots of lime juice, garlic and fish sauce and using them as a bed for sautéed mushrooms and cabbage and whatever leftover meat you have. The bowls are topped with rice paper crackers that you can fry up in just a few minutes to add crunch to the noodles, which are tender, chewy and imbued with all the vivid flavors of the meat and veggies on top.

Spicy Chili Crisp Noodles

Savory, spicy and tangy, these Sichuan-style cold noodles are packed with flavor. Make the sauce while the noodles cook, or days ahead of time, so the dish comes together in just a few minutes.
Get the recipe.
Cook time: 10 minutes.

(Genevieve Ko / Los Angeles Times)

Sesame Cold Noodles With Crab and Crunchy Vegetables

Chinese sesame paste, made with roasted and ground sesame seeds, is essential for this dish. Don’t be tempted to use tahini, which is made with untoasted seeds, because the flavor will fall flat. You can use udon, soba or any other dried noodle you prefer here; just make sure the dried noodle weight is the same for the proportion of sauce to noodles to work out perfectly.
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Cook time: 45 minutes.

(Leslie Grow  / For The Times; prop styling by Nidia Cueva )

Rainbow Curry Rice Noodles

Sweet shallots and carrots mellow the heat of curry, as do rice noodles. A squeeze of fresh lime juice at the end adds welcome brightness and acidity.
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Cook time: 30 minutes.

Spicy Shrimp Paste Noodles

Angela Dimayuga takes four pantry ingredients and sizzles them into a fragrant sauce in minutes. You can keep the sauce on hand to dress any noodles anytime or pull this whole dish together in less than 20 minutes.
Get the recipe.
Cook time: 15 minutes.

(Silvia Razgova / For The Times)

Bun Bowls With Sautéed Cabbage, Mushrooms and Spare Ribs

For the vegetable-heavy filling, Susan Vu uses cabbage and mini king oyster mushrooms, but you can use any produce you have lingering in your fridge. You can use 2 cups of any leftover cooked pork in place of the spare ribs.
Get the recipe.
Cook time: 40 minutes.

(Lindsay Kreighbaum / For The Times; prop styling by Dorothy Hoover)