Years ago, I had a colleague who raved about an Asian noodle dish she got from a magazine. She liked it so much she tweaked it and reposted it on her small, personal food blog. The base? Linguine. I was puzzled.
This sort of unexplained substitution/shortcut happens with many types of dishes, but since I have an affinity for Asian cuisine, I notice it in these recipes most often. Soy sauce, crushed peanuts, and rice vinegar apparently make any dish into something (unspecified) Asian, even if that means coating linguine noodles in a soy sauce/brown sugar dressing with some shredded carrots.
Sure, noodles are noodles. But what you should keep in mind is that there are lots of varieties of Asian noodles, many of which have different flavors and textures than regular spaghetti. Even different Italian pasta shapes are recommended for different sauces and preparations, if you really want to maximize your noodle experience.
I truly think people should eat what they like. As I’ve mentioned before, I think experimentation in the kitchen is great and authenticity for the pure sake of it isn’t the key to success, especially not while making food for your personal consumption. I make lots of substitutions in a pinch, no shame in doing that, especially on a busy weeknight when you’re grasping for whatever you’ve got in the pantry to pull together a homemade meal. The issue is not people like my colleague, whose primary focus is enjoying food and sharing it with a handful of friends and family.
What irks me is to read recipes coming from monetized, supposedly professional sources that reduce “ethnic” recipes to one-note caricatures. These are people who run their sites as businesses, yet they give the impression that they can’t be bothered to do a couple of minutes of research on the cuisine they are selling or to explain why they’ve made a change in ingredients. Frankly, I’d think that if you had time to edit a million Pinterest-worthy photos, maximize your SEO campaign, and write a novella about how much this dish means to you, you’d have found time to procure the best ingredients possible. Or at least give context to your adaptation.
Especially when it’s never been easier to get global ingredients. Between local supermarkets, big box retailers, small specialty stores, and online ordering, the world is as small as its ever been when it comes to getting your hands on historically niche products. Why not try to experiment with soba or udon or various egg noodles? Use linguine if you have to, but if you have the chance to give other noodles a shot, at least give it a try.
Well written and excellent points made. I don’t think I have ever used linguine in an Asian-inspired dish as that doesn’t feel right simply based on instinct. Soba is usually my preferred noodle. I also use sweet potato glass noodles from the Asian market in town. I agree that people may have to use whatever they have on hand in a pinch, but if it’s a business marketing the dish in any way, it’s worth it to do a little research. Well done!