5-Minute Perilla Leaf Pasta with Aromatic Herb

Ingredients

• Toss the boiled noodles with olive oil, let them cool, and store them in the refrigerator for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 2 months.
• You can substitute other fragrant edible wild greens for the perilla leaves.

Steps

1. Boiling the pasta noodles

   

   

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   I am boiling 400g of pasta noodles to stock up. 400g of dry noodles makes about 4 adult servings.

   Add the pasta noodles to rolling boiling water and boil them.

   

   

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   Boil for 5 minutes, then take the noodles out.

   Normally you would boil them for about 8 minutes, but keeping them slightly undercooked lets them finish cooking when you sauté them, so you can enjoy springy noodles that never get soggy.

   

   

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   Drain the water, and right away pour in olive oil so they do not stick together...

   

   

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   Mix thoroughly, let cool, and place in a container. They say it keeps in the refrigerator for 1 week and in the freezer for 2 months.

   You can thaw frozen noodles in the microwave for 2 to 3 minutes, or move them to the refrigerator to thaw for 1 hour.

   I am going to use 250g of these boiled pasta noodles for this dish. (100g of dry noodles yields about 250g once boiled.)

2. Preparing the ingredients

   

   

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   I prepared a generous 10 leaves of perilla leaves, and because I like more garlic than the original recipe calls for, 5 cloves of peeled garlic.

   Finely shred the perilla leaves, and chop the garlic finely so its texture still comes through.

3. Stir-frying the noodles

   

   

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   Heat a pan, generously swirl in 3 tbsp of olive oil, and add the garlic, sautéing briefly to bring out the aroma.

   Add the noodles and perilla leaves, then season. You can use brewed soy sauce (yangjo-ganjang) or regular soy sauce (jin-ganjang), but I used 1 tbsp of tuna extract sauce (chamchi-aek) instead to add extra umami.

   

   

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   Add 1 tbsp of oligosaccharide syrup (oligodang) or corn syrup (mulyeot) for a mild, balanced taste, toss well so the flavors soak in, and finish with ground black pepper.

   I cut the oligosaccharide syrup in half from the original recipe, and it tasted just right to me.

   Taste it and adjust to your liking.

4. Finishing

   

   I finished it with a light sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.

   I used to only enjoy pasta with tomato sauce, but these days I love how clean and light oil pasta is.

   Add plenty of perilla leaves and enjoy their full aroma.

Ppunwife's tips

• Keeping the noodles slightly undercooked allows them to finish cooking during the sauté step, keeping them delightfully springy without getting soggy.
• After boiling and draining the noodles, immediately toss them with olive oil so they do not stick together.

FAQ

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