Chili oil noodles
Chewy noodles tossed in a sizzling, garlicky chili oil with soy and vinegar, the kind of spicy, slurpable bowl you crave late at night.
- 20 min total
- 15 min hands-on
- A little more hands-on
- Serves 2
- About $2.68 a serving
- 680 calories
- Vegetarian
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: Read the steps once before you start. Everything goes smoother after that.
Ingredients
For 2 servings.
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 stalks green onions, thinly sliced
- 1 tsp sesame seeds
- 8 oz lo mein noodles, one package
- 2 heads baby bok choy, halved
From your pantry
- 1 tbsp red pepper flakes
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 tsp sugar
Each serving has about 680 calories, 20 g protein, 90 g carbs and 27 g fat, and costs about $2.68 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No green onions? Chives work.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Bring a large pot of water over high heat.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
High heat
Put the garlic, the white parts of the green onions, the pepper flakes and sesame seeds in a heatproof bowl.
Dolly’s tip: Use a metal, glass or ceramic bowl. Hot oil will melt plastic.Heat the oil in a small over medium-high heat for about 2 minutes, until it .
Saucepan. A saucepan is a pot with tall, straight sides and one long handle. It’s for things that need depth, like rice, sauces or a few boiled eggs.
How you’ll know: The food fills it about halfway, leaving room to bubble without spilling over.
Shimmering oil. Oil shimmers when it’s hot enough to cook: its surface looks rippled and wavy, like heat over a road. That’s your cue to add the food, just before the oil would start to smoke.
How you’ll know: The oil looks wavy and runs thin like water when you tilt the pan, with no smoke yet.
Medium-high heatTimer: 2 min
Carefully pour the hot oil over the garlic and chili. It will sizzle loudly for a few seconds, and that’s what you want.
Dolly’s tip: Pour slowly and keep your face back. The sizzle is what cooks the garlic and turns the oil red.Stir the soy sauce, vinegar and sugar into the chili oil.
Cook the noodles and bok choy in the water as the noodle package says, then .
Boil. Boiling means heating a liquid until big bubbles rise and break all over the surface. It’s the fastest way to cook pasta, potatoes and eggs, because it’s as hot as water gets.
How you’ll know: Bubbles are breaking across the whole surface, not just at the edges, and steam is rising.
Drain. Draining means pouring off liquid, like tipping pasta into a colander or spooning extra fat out of the pan. Pour hot grease into a can or jar, not the sink, where it hardens and clogs the pipes.
How you’ll know: Only a few drips are left, and the food isn’t sitting in a puddle.
High heatTimer: 4 min
the noodles in the chili oil until every strand is coated, then serve with the bok choy and the green onion tops.
Toss. Tossing means gently lifting and turning food so everything gets coated, like pasta in sauce or vegetables in oil. It coats every piece evenly without mashing anything.
How you’ll know: Every piece looks glossy or evenly coated, with no dry spots hiding underneath.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
