Hot chili oil noodles with judasoren and omelet
Dried wood ear mushrooms are those thin, dark mushrooms you often find in Chinese dishes. In their dried form, they might look a bit ominous, but after soaking, they become supple, slightly crunchy, and perfect for noodles. They absorb sauce well, but at the same time retain that nice bite.
In these hot chili oil noodles, they are combined with a homemade chili oil made from garlic, spring onion, sesame, Sichuan pepper, and chili flakes. You need to keep one thing in mind: let the oil get hot, but not scorching hot. If the chili flakes burn, they become bitter and your sauce immediately loses its flavor.
The thin omelet makes this dish just a little more substantial. You cook it like a pancake, roll it up, and cut it into strips to toss through the noodles. With some cucumber on the side, you get exactly what you want: spicy, savory, fresh, and soft all at the same time.
Preparation method for hot chili oil noodles with wood ear mushrooms and omelet
- Place dried wood ear mushrooms in a large bowl with cold or lukewarm water. Let them soak for 30 to 45 minutes, until they are completely soft and have significantly increased in volume.
- Drain the wood ears and rinse them thoroughly. Cut away any hard attachments and then cut the wood ears into thin strips.
- Bring a pan of water to a boil and boil the soaked wood ear mushrooms for 2 to 3 minutes. Drain them and let them dry thoroughly.
- Finely chop the spring onions and set the green part aside for garnish. Finely chop the garlic.
- Put the finely chopped garlic, the white part of the spring onions, the chili flakes, Sichuan pepper, sesame seeds, and salt in a heatproof bowl.
- Heat the neutral oil in a small pan until it is very hot, but not yet smoking. Note: the oil must be hot enough to sizzle, but not so hot that the chili flakes burn. Otherwise, they will become bitter.
- Carefully pour the hot oil over the chili-garlic mixture. The mixture should start sizzling vigorously immediately. Then stir well.
- Add the light soy sauce, Chinese black vinegar, sugar, and sesame oil to the chili oil. Stir well.
- For the omelet, whisk the eggs with the sesame oil, MSG, white pepper, and a pinch of salt.
- Heat a small amount of neutral oil in a frying pan over medium-low heat. Pour the egg mixture into the pan and cook into a thin omelet. Carefully flip over if desired, or let it set slowly over low heat.
- Remove the omelet from the pan, roll it up, and cut it into thin strips.
- Cook the wheat noodles according to the instructions on the packaging. Reserve about 3 tablespoons of the cooking water before draining the noodles.
- Add the warm noodles, the cooked wood ear mushrooms, and the omelet strips to the chili oil. Mix everything well. If necessary, add 1 to 3 tablespoons of cooking water so that the sauce distributes better over the noodles.
- Divide the noodles between two bowls. Finish with the green part of the spring onions.
- Optionally, cut the cucumber into thin strips and serve them on top of or next to the noodles for freshness.
