Scallion Oil Noodles (葱油拌面)

What are scallion oil noodles

Scallion oil noodles (Cōng yóu Bàn Miàn, 葱油拌面) are a humble dish originating in Shanghai. In appearance, it’s as simple as can be: boiled noodles coated with a shiny, brown sauce, and topped with fried scallions.

Yet, this dish can effortlessly excite your taste buds, a true example to prove the concept of “Less is more”. When I was on my Culinary Tours of China with my blog readers, I always made sure to order it for our dinner parties in Shanghai. The key flavors of the dish come from scallions and soy sauce.

These two basic ingredients play star roles in many popular Chinese recipes, such as Scallion Oil Chicken, Scallion Pork Chops, Scallion Ginger Salmon, Scallion Tofu, and more. Thanks to a short list of ingredients and simple preparation, this dish makes an incredibly beginner-friendly dish that I encourage everyone to try.

🌟 NOTE: I also have a recipe for Scallion Oil. Much like Chinese chili oil, I keep it as a kitchen staple and use it for a variety of dishes.

Ingredients

Here are all the ingredients you need for this recipe:

• Scallions, aka spring onion, green onion
• Oil. This refers to neutral-flavored cooking oil, such as sunflower, vegetable, canola oil, etc. Since this recipe only involves pan-frying over medium-low heat, olive oil would work too although it’s not a traditional choice for Chinese cooking.
• Light soy sauce and dark soy sauce. The former provides an umami-rich saltiness, while the latter adds a brown shine and caramelized aroma to the dish.
• Sugar. Both white and brown sugar work.
• Noodles

🌟 Noodle choices: The traditional version uses thin, round wheat noodles as shown in the images. Please feel free to opt for other varieties. such as rice noodles, soba noodles, scissor-cut noodles, hand-cut noodles, or even Italian spaghetti.

All worked well as the sauce would make everything tasty.

Cooking workflow

Step 1: cut the scallions

Rinse the scallions thoroughly and dry them with kitchen paper. Remove the root ends and slice them into long sections, then split each piece lengthways. 🌟 TIP: There is no need to chop the scallion too finely, as this can cause them to burn quickly in the oil.

Step 2: infuse the oil Add oil to a wok or a skillet, then put in the scallions. Fry them on a gentle medium-low heat.

When the white part of the scallions turns a golden brown shade, remove them and set aside. Leave the infused oil in the wok. 🌟 TIP: During this process, pay close attention not to burn the scallions.

Step 3: make the sauce Turn off the heat and let the scallion-infused oil cool for a minute. Then add light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and sugar.

Stir to combine. The remaining heat of the oil should be sufficient to make the sauce bubble and fully dissolve the sugar. 🌟 TIP: If the oil has become too cold, turn on the heat for a short period of time to simmer the sauce.

Step 4: cook the noodles To save time, boil the noodles simultaneously on another burner as you prepare the sauce.

Follow the recommended cooking time on the package, or give them a taste if unsure about the doneness. 🌟 TIP: If you’d like to add some leafy greens to the dish (e.g. bok choy, spinach), put them into the same pot to cook right before the noodles are done. Step 5: assemble the dish

Transfer the drained noodles to the wok, mixing them thoroughly with the sauce to ensure an even coating. Dish out the sauced noodles to individual serving bowls or a large plate for sharing. Then garnish with the golden-brown fried scallions.

Make ahead

The sauce recipe can be easily scaled up for large batches by proportionally increasing the ingredient quantity.

Once prepared, it can be stored in the fridge for about 1 month. However, it’s better to use up the fried scallions within 3 days.

Whenever you crave a bowl of scallion oil noodles, simply boil some noodles then toss them with the pre-made sauce. There is no need to reheat the sauce, as the heat from the freshly cooked noodles will warm it up and enhance its aroma.

Serving ideas

Shanghai scallion oil noodles make a wonderful meal, together with some proteins and/or a vegetable dish on the side.

Here are some pairing ideas you may find helpful: PROTEINS (all of the following can be made in advance): VEGETABLES (all of the following require a short prep time):

Additionally, I like taking this dish to potlucks because it can be easily made in a big batch and tastes good at room temperature.