Chilli Garlic Noodles
on Sep 21, 2020, Updated Oct 05, 2021
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This quick and easy Chilli Garlic Noodles recipe will satisfy all your Chinese takeout cravings – Learn how to make the chilli garlic paste, the 5 key ingredients that make this dish what it is, and how to tweak this recipe to suit your preference!
We LOVE chinese food. And we looove those typical chilli and garlic packed spicy noodles at Chinese restaurants. We made Pineapple Fried Rice last time and it was such a smash hit at home AND with our readers. Today we’ve made another staple Chinese dish which checks all the necessary boxes to make it to our favourite food list!
Did you know? Apparently eating food together builds and strengthens relationships! And I’ve decided that chilli garlic noodles is legit the best food for a chill hang-out sesh with my peeps. The whole playfulness involved in slurping up noodle strands without breaking them and fighting over the last few servings is such fun, you know what I mean? Power of food, yo!
Here’s how to whip up the simplest hot garlic noodles for your next hang out sesh.
The Chilli Garlic Paste
This is the base of the dish, this is where the very soul of this dish lies…. Over-dramatic? So this paste is what gives the noodles the heat from the red chillies and the garlicky kick that it needs. Spicy noods? Yes pls!!! Soaking the chillies and the garlic in hot water for about ten minutes helps them become soft, which makes it easy to grind them into a fine paste. Also, make sure the wok is super hot when adding this paste because the chillies and garlic need to cook through and lose that raw flavour.
The 5 Key Ingredients
The Chilli Garlic paste does almost everything…well almost! My trusty 5 ingredients that go in almost all my Chinese dishes never fail to deliver. These basic pantry staples will give the noodles that distinct Chinese flavour:
- Finely chopped ginger
- Soy Sauce for saltiness and umami,
- Vinegar for acidity
- White pepper for heat,
- Sugar to balance out the other flavours
Note: If you would like to take it one step further, adding fish sauce gives an extra layer of umami. But beware, because too much fish sauce will overpower all other flavours and ruin the dish.
Cooking the noodles
The noodles (available at any supermarket) are easy to make and will maintain social distancing without clumping up together if we add a little oil to the boiling water. Also, make sure to salt the water well while cooking the noodles. I always like to cook the noodles for a minute less than what’s given on the packet – they turn out just right and al dente. It’s also important to immediately drain the cooked noodles and wash them with cold water and toss them with a little oil. All of this will make your noodles not get clumpy or overcook.
There’s a whole host of add ons that can make the chilli garlic noodles interesting for all parties with a vested interest (read: people who stand next to the stove, ready with a fork to dig in).
We’ve made a vegetarian version with onions, spring onions, capsicum, carrots, beans and mushrooms.
To tweak this recipe to your preferences, you could add:
- Shredded cabbage,
- Broccoli,
- Eggs (scrambled at the end)
- Protein like chicken, prawns, etc.
Serve this dish with an easy-to-make Chilli Chicken or Soya Manchurian and some soda or a beer!
More Chinese food FTW!
- Chinese Chicken Salad
- Chinese Cashew Noodles Stir-fry
- One Pan Noodle and Manchurian Stir-fry
- Burnt Garlic Mushroom Fried Rice
- Chinese Hot and Sour Soup with Ramen
Watch Chilli Garlic Noodles Recipe Video
Spicy Chilli Garlic Noodles
Ingredients
Chilli Garlic Paste
- 5-7 Dry Red Chillies, I used kashmiri red chillies (see note 1)
- 8-10 cloves Garlic
For the Noodles
- 200 grams dry Noodles
- ¼ cup Oil
- 1 tsp Garlic, minced
- 1 tsp Ginger , minced
- 3 tbsp Chilli Garlic Paste
- 2 Green chillies , slit, optional
- 2 tbsp Spring onion (white part only)
- ½ cup Onion , sliced
- 1/4 cup Carrot, julienned
- 1/4 cup Green Beans , julienned
- 1/4 cup Green Capsicum , sliced
- 2 tsp Soy sauce
- 1 tsp Vinegar
- 1 1/2 tsp Sugar
- 1 + 1 tsp Salt
- 1/2 tsp White Pepper
- 2 tbsp Spring onion (green part only), chopped
Instructions
Chilli Garlic Paste
- Soak dry red chillies in hot water for about 10 minutes. They need to be soft enough to grind.
- Drain the water and grind the chillies with garlic to a fine paste adding little water if necessary.
Boil Noodles
- Cook noodles according to package directions with a teaspoon of salt and oil added to boiling water, reducing the time by a minute from what's on the package. Once cooked, drain immediately, rinse with cold water and toss with 1 tsp oil. Set aside.
Stir Fry
- Heat remaining oil in a wok and add garlic and ginger and stir fry on high for a minute. Add the chilli garlic paste and stir fry for 2-3 minutes.
- Add green chillies (if using), white part of spring onions and onions. Saute for a minute and add the remaining vegetables and continue to stir fry for 2-3 minutes.
- Reduce heat and add, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper, stir to combine with the vegetables. Add the cooked noodles and mix well using tongs. Stir fry until the noodles are coated well with the sauce.
- Garnish with spring onions and serve hot.
Video
Notes
- You can substitute the chilli garlic paste with 1.5 tbsp store bought chilli sauce but I highly recommend making it yourself. I used Kashmiri Red Chillies for this recipe which have more colour than heat
- The noodles should be cooked just al dente. Before draining them, check the noodles and they should still have a bite to them.
- Immediately rinse the noodles under running cold water. This will prevent the noodles from cooking further.
- Once you add the chilli paste to the wok, be sure to fry it until almost all of the raw aroma goes. This will help you avoid the raw chilli taste and smell in the dish.
- You can personalise this recipe as per your taste. Add any vegetables or protein you like when stir frying, before adding the noodles. I love to add prawns and chicken making it a full meal.
- Serve as is or along with my Asian Veg Stir Fry recipe
Yummy,easy…a quick-fix for spicy cravings..
Thanks for this! The chilli garlic paste was a game changer….I moderated the quantity to keep the spice low but the flavour that it adds is just the perfect umami👌
So happy you liked it Shilpa!
Hey! Loved the recipe; absolutely stunning! Was wondering which type of noodles do you use? Chicago Asian stores have many varieties but my noodles never look like yours. Would love to know or if you could send a picture of it to my email, that’d be great. Thanks!
Hey ary, its hard to say because the noodle brand I use is Indian and won’t be available in Chicago. Look for hakka noodles or egg noodles. The thin variety
What a brilliant way to make chilli garlic noodles. I didn’t have many veg at home so i added egg and it turned out just fab.