Noodle Worship: Easy Recipes for All the Dishes You Crave from Asian, Italian and American Cuisines, written by Tiffani and Larone Thompson, features an exciting collection of noodles and pasta inspired by flavors from around the world. A few highlights include Pesto Gnocchi with Burrata & Crispy Prosciutto, Spicy Peanut Noodles, Easy Fried Chicken Mac ‘N’ Cheese, Cheesy Baked Mostaccioli, and Strawberry-Balsamic Pasta Salad. I will also be sharing their recipe for Fiery Ram-Don following the review.
Disclosure: I received this book from Page Street Publishing in exchange for my honest review. All opinions and statements are my own. This post contains Amazon affiliate links. If you purchase something through the link, I may receive a small commission at no extra charge to you.
Tiffani & Larone Thompson
Tiffani & Larone Thompson created @NoodleWorship on Instagram in 2016 as a way to share their food photography and videos of favorite pasta and noodle dishes with others. Their work has also been featured in LA restaurants, brands, and food blogs.
They are currently based in Los Angeles, California and this is their first cookbook.
Noodle Worship
Tiffani and Larone begin Noodle Worship with a short introduction and how they developed a love for noodles. From there, they jump right into the recipes with some tips and personal stories at the beginning of each chapter.
The chapters are divided according to the following: Italian-Inspired Pasta; Asian-Inspired Noodles; American, Southern & Southwestern Comfort Food; Delectable Oven-Baked Pasta; and Flavor-Packed Soups & Pasta Salads. The table of contents have a list of the included recipes with page number for easy reference.
The photography is provided by Becky Winkler. Every single recipe is paired with a vibrant, full-page photo of the finished dish.
Measurements are listed in US Customary and Metric. Titles are written in English or the original language. Each pasta has a headnote with background information, stories, helpful tips, notes, yield, and serving ideas.
Fiery Ram-Don
Ram-Don (짜파구리, Jjapaguri) became popular in the United States in 2019 following the release of the South Korean movie, Parasite (기생충). In the subtitles, Jjapaguri was translated to Ram-Don for ramen + udon. I remember seeing recipes across Instagram, but this one in Noodle Worship was my first time finally trying it!
For Tiffani and Larone’s Fiery Ram-Don, packages of Chapagetti and Neoguri are combined with pieces of marinated steak and seasoned with sesame chili oil for even more heat.
Serve the Fiery Ram-Don immediately after preparing. Adjust the Sesame Chili Oil to taste. If desired, you can use regular sesame oil for a little less spice.
Keep track of all the spice packets that are included in the instant noodle packages. They should all be added at the end.
Notable Ingredients
Chapagetti is an instant ramyeon version of the Korean-Chinese Jjajangmyeon/Chajangmyun (noodles with black bean sauce). Neoguri is an instant spicy seafood udon soup with thick, chewy noodles.
For those in Northern Virginia, I was able to get both types of instant noodle packets at Lotte Plaza in Chantilly.
Ponzu is a citrus-based soy sauce. It can be found in markets with East Asian ingredients.
More Pasta
I also made Marsel’s Garlic-Pepper Ramen, Taco Pasta, Buttery Egg Noodles with Pull-Apart Cheesy Garlic Bread, and BLT Fusilli.
Named after their son, Marsel’s Garlic-Pepper Ramen dresses up instant ramen noodles in about five minutes for a quick and easy meal. It was so good with the garlic, sesame oil, and Nanami (shichimi) togarashi.
The Taco Pasta is such a fun and comforting dinner. I absolutely loved the warming flavors from the taco seasoning, red taco sauce, cream, tomatoes, and plenty of grated cheese.
The Buttery Egg Noodles with Pull-Apart Cheesy Garlic Bread was perfect for the family. Wide egg noodles are cooked until just tender, then tossed with a buttery garlic sauce and Parmesan. For even more cheese and garlic, the noodles are served with pull-apart garlic bread filled with mozzarella. The grocery store was of course out of French bread, so I substituted with individual rolls.
The BLT Fusilli was a refreshing and delicious option for lunch. This pasta salad combines al dente fusilli with crisp bacon, lettuce, tomatoes, red onion, and a light Italian dressing.
Noodle Worship is a great pick for those who love all types of noodles. Tiffani and Larone have put together such a fun collection based on their most fan requested recipes and a few personal favorites. Most are perfect for weeknights and busy days with a cooking time of 30 minutes or less. There is also a nice variety of vegetarian, meat, and seafood options.
Having a specialty market nearby will be helpful in locating items such as Calabrian chili peppers, prosciutto, Burrata, knife-cut noodles, chili crisp, dark soy sauce, black vinegar, Shaoxing wine, fresh udon, andouille sausage, fish balls, and fish cakes.
Fiery Ram-Don Recipe
Excerpt from Noodle Worship
Fiery Ram-Don
Ingredients
- 12 ounces (340 grams) sirloin or ribeye steak cut to 3/4 inch (2 centimeter) dice
- 1/2 tablespoon (6 grams) kosher salt
- 2 1/2 tablespoons (38 milliliters) ponzu sauce
- 2 teaspoons (10 milliliters) vegetable oil
- 2 (4.2 ounce, 127 gram) packages Chapagetti
- 2 (4.2 ounce, 127 gram) packages Neoguri
- 2 scallions thinly sliced, for garnish
- Sesame chili oil or regular sesame oil to taste, for garnish
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, stir together the steak, salt and ponzu sauce. Cover the bowl and set aside to marinate for 30 minutes.
- Place a large skillet over medium-high heat and warm the vegetable oil.
- When the oil is hot, add the steak (discarding the marinade) in a single layer. Cook, without stirring, until golden brown, about 2 minutes.
- Flip the steak and continue cooking until medium, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a plate, cover and set aside.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Add all four packages of instant noodles (setting aside all of the seasoning packets for now) and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 minutes.
- Scoop out and reserve 2 cups (480 milliliters) of the noodle water. Drain, but do not rinse, the noodles.
- In a large bowl, combine the reserved noodle water and the contents of all of the seasoning packets that came with the four packages of noodles, including any soup bases, vegetables and/or oil. The exact contents of the seasonings may vary from brand to brand; that's okay, just add them all. Whisk together.
- Add the drained noodles and toss until the noodles are completely coated with the sauce. Add the steak and toss to combine.
- Divide among four bowls, and top with the scallions and sesame chili oil.
Jeff the Chef
Thanks for the cookbook recommendation. The dish you made really does look good.