Recipe extract from Chinese-ish
Chongqing Hot and Sour Noodles
A punchy, simple and deliciously warming noodle recipe from Chinese-ish, the new cookbook by Rosheen Kaul, head chef at Melbourne northside favourite Etta, and illustrator Joanna Hu.
Also known as suan la fen (酸辣粉), this sichuan street food dish of bouncy potato noodles in a sour and numbing broth is flavourful, textural, bright, fresh and packed fullof toppings. All you need are some basic Chinese pantry ingredients to build this bowl of seriously good times.
INGREDIENTS (Serves 4)
200g dried sweet potato or mung bean (cellophane) noodles (see Notes), soaked in cold water for 1 hour to soften and then drained
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon ground sichuan peppercorns
1 teaspoon five spice powder
1⁄4 cup (60ml) chilli oil (see page 94 of Chinese-ish for home-made, or use lao Gan ma chilli oil)
1⁄4 cup (60ml) light soy sauce
1⁄3 cup (80 ml) Chinkiang black vinegar
2 cups (500 ml) hot stock (see page 51 of Chinese-ish, or use a good-quality store-bought stock)
4 spring onions (scallions), sliced
1⁄3 cup (50g) ya cai (see Notes)
2 tablespoons roasted peanuts
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
Handful of coriander sprigs, finely chopped
METHOD
Cook the softened noodles in a saucepan of boiling water until tender, 8–10 minutes. They will still be chewy, but should be fully translucent when cooked. Drain and rinse with warm water, drain again and set aside.
Heat the vegetable oil in a small frying pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and stir-fry until fragrant. Add the ground Sichuan peppercorns, five spice powder, chilli oil and light soy sauce and stir. Remove from the heat and add the Chinkiang vinegar.
Divide this sauce between four bowls. Divide the noodles between the bowls and top each with a ladle of hot stock, and some spring onion, ya cai, peanuts, sesame seeds and coriander. Serve immediately.
NOTES
You can find dried sweet potato or mung bean (cellophane) noodles in the Asian aisle of well-stocked supermarkets or at most Asian grocers.
You can find ya cai (芽菜 or ‘sichuan pickled vegetable’) at most Asian grocers.
Images and text from Chinese-ish by Rosheen Kaul and Joanna Hu, photography by Armelle Habib, published by murdoch Books.
