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I’d never heard of these before moving to the Bay Area, and that's because these Vietnamese-American garlic noodles were created here at Thanh Long restaurant in the outer sunset. They are frequently served with roast dungeness crab, but they work well on their own.

Here’s Thanh Long’s site: http://www.thanhlongsf.com/

Garlic Noodles
Serves 2-3

Ingredients:
250g (1/2 pound) dry spaghetti, or 150g (1/3 pound) fresh egg noodles

2 tablepsoons butter
12 cloves garlic, minced
15ml (1 tablespoon) oyster sauce
10ml (2 teaspoons) soy sauce or Maggi seasoning
10ml (2 teaspoons) fish sauce
30g (1 ounce) grated Parmesan or Pecorino cheese
Thinly sliced scallions (optional)

1. Cook the pasta according to package instructions in unsalted water (the sauce is very salty; if using fresh noodles, cook them at the start of step 2). Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large skillet or saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant but not browned, about 2 minutes. Add the oyster sauce, soy sauce, and fish and stir to combine.

2. Using tongs, transfer the cooked noodles to the garlic sauce. Increase heat to high, add cheese and scallions, and stir and toss vigorously until the sauce is creamy and emulsified, about 30 seconds. If sauce looks too watery, let it keep reducing. If it looks greasy, splash some more pasta water into it and let it reemulsify. Serve immediately.