kari kari pasta (deep fried crispy pasta noodle)

Take pasta noodles out of the box, deep fry them, add some spice, and eat. 

It's as simple as that.

First came across this at Watamin-chi, where they had it on the menu in several flavors such as nori (dried seaweed), corn, curry or just plain with salt and pepper. Later saw it at an Izakaya called NiJyu Maru (not posted yet). Did some research and didn't find too much about it on the internet, so it's a good candidate for experimentation at home.

It's a pretty good snack, especially with a beer. The key is to use small spaghetti noodles. They will get crispy and crunchy, but if they're too thick the snack won't be as enjoyable. You could also find other creative ways to use them such as in a salad.

Nijyu Maru crispy (kari kari) pasta noodles

Ingredients:
Cooking oil
Spaghetti noodles (angel hair will work good)
various spices

Before cooking, get plate ready to receive to drain the oil and for adding the spices.

Home kari kari pasta

There are only two key concepts to grasp to ensure success.

- Raw spaghetti noodles cook really, really fast. You'll need no more than about 10-20 seconds. It should turn color, but not burnt of course.
- Season immediately while still wet from the oil.

Cook in small batches. They may bend a little, but overall they behave themselves. When done take them out and place on some napkins. Season as desired.  As you can see I experimented with various popcorn seasoning as well as garlic, curry, cayenne, and salt and pepper.

As far as the time to cook them: If they burn at 20 seconds, then you want to take them out at 18-19 seconds. If you take them out too early, they'll be too crunchy (closer to like eating them out of the box). So lean towards the end of the spectrum with respect to the cooking time. "Negatively skewed distribution" for you mathematical types.

Different batches, different seasoning

   
This was fun, so next  I decided to try rice noodles. Both round and flat ones. This is where the fun really began. They instantly, yes instantly, puffed up. They will curl up and practically climb out of the oil. As soon as you put them in, take them out. Now I finally know how shrimp chips are made. Didn't really season or eat the rice noodles, as they were more of an experiment. I think the spaghetti noodles taste better.

Some rice noodles will make it fun

Season them with you're choice of spice. Personally I liked three flavors: salt and pepper, curry, and a bit of cayenne pepper.

Not shown - salt and pepper

As usually when cooking with hot oil, parental supervision is advised.