15-Minute Garlic Chili Oil Noodles

Dinner · 15 minutes · Serves 2

The kind of bowl you make when you are hungry now and cannot be bothered. Hot oil poured over garlic, chili and soy hits the noodles and turns glossy in seconds. Everything here is a pantry staple.

Ingredients

• 2 bundles of dried noodles (about 200 g)
• 3 tbsp neutral oil
• 4 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 2 spring onions, sliced, whites and greens kept apart
• 1 tbsp chili flakes (Kashmiri or Sichuan)
• 2 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tsp black vinegar or rice vinegar
• 1 tsp sugar
• A pinch of salt

Method

1. Boil the noodles to just under package time, drain, and keep a splash of the cooking water.
2. In a heatproof bowl, pile the minced garlic, spring onion whites, chili flakes, soy, vinegar, sugar and salt.
3. Heat the oil until it shimmers and just begins to smoke, then pour it straight over the garlic and chili. It will hiss — that is the point.
4. Add the noodles and a spoon of the reserved water; toss until every strand is coated and glossy.
5. Finish with the spring onion greens and eat immediately.