Chili Crisp Noodles (10-Min)
These noodles are what I make at 11pm when everyone’s asleep and I want something spicy, salty, and entirely mine.
Ingredients
- 8 oz noodles 225g; Chinese egg noodles, ramen noodles, spaghetti, or whatever you have. This is an 11pm recipe. Standards are flexible.
- 3 tablespoons chilli crisp oil Lao Gan Ma is the classic brand — red jar, lady on the label, available everywhere
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 2 cloves garlic, minced or skip if you’re too tired — the chilli crisp already has garlic
- Toppings: sliced green onions, sesame seeds, a fried egg, crushed peanuts
Method
Boil the Noodles
-
Cook noodles according to package directions. Drain, reserving 1/4 cup of the cooking water. The starchy water helps the sauce cling to the noodles instead of pooling at the bottom of the bowl.
Make the Sauce
-
In the same pot (one-pot situation, zero extra dishes), combine chilli crisp, soy sauce, sesame oil, rice vinegar, sugar, and garlic. Stir over low heat for 30 seconds until everything is combined and fragrant. Add the noodles back. Toss with tongs until every strand is coated. Add a splash of the reserved pasta water if it looks dry.
Top and Eat
-
Transfer to a bowl. Top with sliced green onions, sesame seeds, and — if you’re committed to the full 11pm experience — a crispy fried egg with a runny yolk that breaks over the noodles and becomes part of the sauce. Eat immediately. Preferably standing up. Preferably in silence. This is your time.
Chilli Crisp Noodles — 10 Minutes to the Best Lazy Dinner
These noodles are what I make at 11pm when everyone’s asleep and I want something spicy, salty, and entirely mine.
Chilli crisp noodles are my secret selfish dinner. After the kids are in bed, the kitchen is cleaned (mostly), and the house goes quiet for the first time in 14 hours, I boil noodles, toss them in chilli crisp oil with soy sauce and sesame, and eat standing at the counter in the dark like the feral woman I become after 10pm. It takes ten minutes. It requires zero thought. And the flavour — smoky, crunchy, spicy, savoury — is so absurdly satisfying for something so simple that I feel like I’m getting away with something.
Chilli crisp (also called chilli crunch) is a Chinese condiment made from chilli flakes fried in oil with garlic, shallots, and spices. It’s been trending hard for the past couple of years, and for once the hype is completely justified. The stuff is addictive. I put it on eggs, rice, soup, avocado toast, and — during a moment of culinary recklessness — on pierogi. The pierogi were excellent. My babcia would have had a heart attack, but they were excellent.
Ingredients
- • 8 oz (225g) noodles — Chinese egg noodles, ramen noodles, spaghetti, or whatever you have. This is an 11pm recipe. Standards are flexible.
- • 3 tablespoons chilli crisp oil (Lao Gan Ma is the classic brand — red jar, lady on the label, available everywhere)
- • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- • 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- • 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- • 1 teaspoon sugar
- • 2 cloves garlic, minced (or skip if you’re too tired — the chilli crisp already has garlic)
- • Toppings: sliced green onions, sesame seeds, a fried egg, crushed peanuts
How to Make Them
Boil the Noodles
Cook noodles according to package directions. Drain, reserving 1/4 cup of the cooking water. The starchy water helps the sauce cling to the noodles instead of pooling at the bottom of the bowl.
Make the Sauce
In the same pot (one-pot situation, zero extra dishes), combine chilli crisp, soy sauce, sesame oil, rice vinegar, sugar, and garlic. Stir over low heat for 30 seconds until everything is combined and fragrant. Add the noodles back. Toss with tongs until every strand is coated. Add a splash of the reserved pasta water if it looks dry.
Top and Eat
Transfer to a bowl. Top with sliced green onions, sesame seeds, and — if you’re committed to the full 11pm experience — a crispy fried egg with a runny yolk that breaks over the noodles and becomes part of the sauce. Eat immediately. Preferably standing up. Preferably in silence. This is your time.
Why Chilli Crisp Changes Everything
Regular chilli oil is just heat. Chilli crisp is heat plus texture plus flavour. The crunchy bits — fried garlic, fried shallots, chilli flakes, sometimes peanuts or sesame — add a dimension that plain oil can’t. It’s the same principle as why crack green beans work — the crunch changes the experience. When those crunchy, spicy bits tangle with slippery noodles, you get contrast in every bite. It’s simple food elevated by a single incredible ingredient.
If you haven’t bought chilli crisp yet, this is your sign. Lao Gan Ma is the OG — available in most grocery stores’ Asian section. Fly By Jing is a fancier option that’s excellent. Or make your own if you’re ambitious, though at 11pm, I am never ambitious. I’m opening a jar and boiling water. That’s the extent of my ambition at that hour.
Tips
💡 Pro Tips
✓ Use the oil AND the bits. When you scoop chilli crisp from the jar, dig deep and get the crunchy sediment at the bottom. That’s where the flavour lives. Skimming just the oil is a rookie move.
✓ Any noodle works. Chinese egg noodles are traditional. Ramen noodles are easy. Spaghetti works in a pinch. I’ve used linguine, udon, and once in desperation, broken lasagna noodles. All worked. The sauce doesn’t judge your noodle choices.
✓ The fried egg is not optional. I know I said it’s optional above. I lied. The runny yolk makes these noodles complete. It adds richness and a silky quality that turns a simple bowl into a meal. Fry it in the same oil you’d use for the noodles. One more minute of effort. Infinite improvement.
✓ Adjust to your heat tolerance. 3 tablespoons of chilli crisp is medium-spicy. Start with 2 if you’re cautious. Go to 4 if you’re me.
Variations
• With protein: Add shredded leftover chicken, sliced kielbasa (yes, kielbasa in chilli crisp noodles — the smokiness is phenomenal), or crispy tofu.
• Cold noodle version: Cook noodles, rinse under cold water, toss in the sauce. Add cucumber ribbons. Perfect summer lunch.
• Peanut butter addition: Stir 1 tablespoon peanut butter into the sauce for a creamier, nuttier version. Halfway to peanut noodles territory.
• Breakfast noodles: Yes, I eat these for breakfast sometimes. With a fried egg on top and a cup of strong coffee. Don’t look at me like that. It’s better than skipping breakfast.
How to Store
Eat them all. That’s my storage advice. But if you must: fridge for 2 days. Reheat in a skillet with a splash of water and an extra drizzle of chilli crisp. Cold from the fridge is honestly also fine — cold chilli crisp noodles are a legitimate snack. Not freezer-friendly.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is chilli crisp very spicy?
Medium. Less spicy than you’d expect from something with “chilli” in the name twice. The oil has a slow, warm heat — not the sharp, immediate burn of hot sauce. My younger kids don’t eat these (it’s my secret selfish recipe anyway), but my teenager handles 2 tablespoons without drama.
What if I can’t find chilli crisp?
Make a quick substitute: heat 3 tablespoons vegetable oil, add 1 tablespoon red pepper flakes, 1 minced garlic clove, and a pinch of sugar. Let it sizzle for 30 seconds. It won’t have the depth of the real thing, but it gets you 70% of the way there at 11pm when the stores are closed and determination is all you have.