The Way Rice Should Be: Hot Oil Noodles

Rice and noodles are the staple components in Chinese cooking. As we say in Chinese, “grain in the south, wheat in the north,” because the weather in southern Chinese provinces is conducive for growing rice and the climate up north is more suitable for growing wheat. Hot oil noodles originated in Xanxi Province and have been a common dish in the region for the past 3,000 years. Because of the cold climate, resources are limited in the winter, so it makes sense that this simple noodle dish would become such a local favorite in that part of the world. This week I’d like to share with you my own recipe for the hand-pulled hot oil noodles. (Serves 2-3 people)

Ingredients:

For the noodles:: 2 cups all-purpose flour; ¼ tsp. salt; 2/3 cup cold water

For the hot oil:: 3 scallions; 2 cloves garlic; 2 dried peppers; 2 Tbsp. ginger; 1 star anise; ¼ tsp. Szechuan peppercorns; 2 cups vegetable oil; 1 Tbsp. sesame seeds; 6 Tbsp. mixed dried pepper powder and pepper flakes

For the toppings:: ¼ cup peanuts; ¼ tsp. white pepper; ¼ tsp. coarse sea salt; 2 cloves garlic; 2 scallions; 1 tsp. ginger; 1 tsp. sesame seeds

For the sauce:: 2 Tbsp. soy sauce; 2 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar; ¾ tsp. sugar

Directions:

Ingredients:

For the noodles:: 2 cups all-purpose flour; ¼ tsp. salt; 2/3 cup cold water

For the hot oil:: 3 scallions; 2 cloves garlic; 2 dried peppers; 2 Tbsp. ginger; 1 star anise; ¼ tsp. Szechuan peppercorns; 2 cups vegetable oil; 1 Tbsp. sesame seeds; 6 Tbsp. mixed dried pepper powder and pepper flakes

For the toppings:: ¼ cup peanuts; ¼ tsp. white pepper; ¼ tsp. coarse sea salt; 2 cloves garlic; 2 scallions; 1 tsp. ginger; 1 tsp. sesame seeds

For the sauce:: 2 Tbsp. soy sauce; 2 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar; ¾ tsp. sugar

Directions:

Start by making the noodles. Mix all of the ingredients in a bowl and kneed for three to four minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic. Cover it up and let it rest for 15 minutes while you prepare the hot oil.

In a heat-proof bowl, mix up 6 Tbsp. dried pepper powder and pepper flakes. I’m using a mixture of Korean dried pepper flakes, regular dried pepper flakes and cayenne pepper. Also mix in 1 Tbsp. of sesame seeds. Set it aside.

Roughly chop up the scallion, ginger and garlic.

In a saucepan, place the scallions, ginger, garlic, star anise, dried peppers and Szechwan peppercorns along with 2 cups vegetable oil. On high heat, bring it up to a boil and immediately pour it over the dried pepper flakes and sesame seed mixture. Cover the bowl to allow all of the flavors to infuse while it cools down.

Once the oil has cooled down you will have the most beautiful red hot oil loaded with flavors. Keep it in a glass jar in the refrigerator with all of the garlic, scallions and spices. This will keep in the refrigerator for a long time and you can use this as a condiment over dumplings, rice, noodles and even sandwiches.

Now to shape the noodles. Cut the dough into eight pieces and shape them into an oval shape. Drizzle some vegetable oil on top, cover them up and let them rest for 10 minutes.

After the dough has rested, roll the noodles out flat individually, and make a dent in the center with your rolling pin.

Use the dent as a guide and slowly pull the dough on both ends. As the dough stretches, the center dent will start to tear apart. This is why it is called “hand-pulled hot oil noodles.”

To prepare the toppings, crush up the peanuts with white pepper and salt. (photo 11) I’ve also added some dried pepper flakes to give it extra heat, but that’s optional. In a separate bowl mix up soy sauce, rice wine vinegar and sugar for the sauce. Set the crushed peanuts and sauce aside.

To cook the noodles, you will only need to cook them for one minute in a pot of boiling water. While you cook the noodles, bring the hot oil back on the stove to heat up again. To prevent the spices from burning, I recommend straining them out first.

Once the noodles have been cooked, place them into a serving bowl, top the noodles with 1 to 2 Tbsp. of the soy sauce mixture we made earlier and sprinkle the crushed peanuts and some minced garlic, ginger, scallions, pepper flakes and sesame seeds on top.