Easy Chili Oil Noodles

I ate this bowl every day for a week. It started by accident. I made it once, wanted it again the next day, and by day three I wasn’t reaching for anything else.

The sauce is equal parts soy sauce, rice vinegar, and chili oil, with raw garlic stirred in. The noodles, the vegetable, and the protein are all up to you and whatever’s in the fridge.

I made it with ground beef and napa cabbage most of the week. It’s quick, and it puts carbs, protein, and veggies in one bowl without me having to think about it.

Ingredients

For the sauce

• Garlic, minced
• Soy sauce
• Rice vinegar
• Chili oil

For the bowl

• Noodles (I used Dragonfly knife-cut noodles; any dried noodle or a ramen brick works)
• Protein (ground beef shown)
• Vegetable (napa cabbage)
• A splash of reserved noodle cooking water, if the sauce needs loosening
• Optional, to finish: green onions and toasted sesame seeds

Why these chili oil noodles work

The sauce does everything, so it has to be balanced. Soy brings the salt. Rice vinegar cuts through the fat and keeps the bowl from feeling heavy. Chili oil brings the heat and the fat that carries it. Equal parts means you never have to measure carefully. One tablespoon each for one bowl, and you scale straight up from there.

You want the sauce to coat the noodles and go glossy, not pool at the bottom of the bowl. Mine had plenty of liquid from the three tablespoons of sauce and the water clinging to the freshly drained noodles. If yours looks tight, a splash of the starchy cooking water loosens it right back up.

Because the sauce carries the dish, the rest is interchangeable. I used ground beef and napa cabbage one day, chicken thigh and the same cabbage the next. Napa or bok choy, beef or chicken, whatever protein and green you already have. It all works.

The noodles are just as flexible. For these I used Dragonfly knife-cut noodles, a non-fried dried noodle with a wide, chewy cut that grabs the sauce. Any dried noodle works in their place. A standard instant ramen brick, cooked and drained, does the job fine.

Protein and vegetable swaps

The sauce is the only fixed part. Treat the protein and the vegetable as whatever you have on hand. Here’s what I’ve run through it.

Protein

• Ground beef, browned hard in a pan.
• Chicken thigh, seared and sliced.
• Pork loin, sliced thin.
• Tofu if you want it meatless. Crisp it first so it holds up in the toss.

Vegetable

• Napa cabbage, dropped in for the last minute of the noodle boil.
• Bok choy, the same way.
• Shiitake mushrooms for something earthier and a little meatier.
• Spinach, stirred in at the very end since it wilts in seconds.

However you mix it, cook the protein in its own pan and let the vegetable ride in the noodle water.

How I make it

Get a pot of water boiling for the noodles first. While it heats up and the noodles cook, I make the sauce and brown the beef. The whole thing comes together in about the time it takes the noodles to boil.

For the sauce, mince two cloves of garlic and stir them into a tablespoon each of soy sauce, rice vinegar, and chili oil. Set it aside so the garlic softens while you cook.

Brown the beef in a hot pan, broken up, until it has color. A quarter pound is plenty for one bowl. Pull it off the heat.

Cook the noodles about 30 seconds past the package time. In the last minute before draining, drop the napa cabbage right into the same pot.

Tip the drained noodles and cabbage into the sauce and toss until the noodles go glossy. If it looks dry, splash in a little of the noodle cooking water. Top with the beef.

Level it up

One small thing takes this further without complicating it. When you pour the chili oil, dig the spoon down to the sediment at the bottom of the jar. That’s where the crushed chili, garlic, and toasted bits live. Scooping the sediment instead of just the clear oil gives you more texture and more heat.

Optional toppings

None of these are necessary. The bowl stands on its own. But any of them make it feel a little more finished.

• Green onions, sliced thin.
• Toasted sesame seeds.
• A fried egg, for a runny yolk that loosens into the sauce.