Sichuan Burning Noodles (宜宾燃面)

A firey mixed noodle dish from the river town of Yibin

So I wanted to show you how to make a classic noodle dish from Yibin in the Sichuan province – burning noodles.

Now, upon seeing the words “Sichuan” and “Burning Noodles” in the same sentence, I can probably guess where your mind’s headed. Yep, these noodles are indeed pretty spicy. But no... that’s not actually why they’re called “Burning Noodles”.

The ‘burn’ in burning noodles is a translation for the character ‘ran’ (燃) – which means to light, or to ignite (e.g. the flash point of an oil is referred to as its ‘ran dian’… literally translated, ‘ignition point’). Why ‘ignition noodles’? Well, they’re got the name because… they’re not a soup noodle dish. So much not a soup noodle dish, in fact, you could theoretically take a lighter to them and the noodles would burn in front of you (note: don’t do this, waste of noodles).

Now I know that feels like a hell of a commitment to the concept of ‘not soup noodle’. But you can find this sort of explicitly not-soup noodle dish in old trading towns up and down the middle to upper reaches of the Yangtze river:

1. Wuhan, Hot Dry Noodles. Wuhan is the last major city right before the three gorges area of the Yangtze river (criminally under-rated food city). One of their most iconic dishes is “hot dry noodles”… the dry referring to the fact that – again – this is not a soup noodle.

2. Wanzhou, Zajiang Noodles. Up the river a bit, after the three gorges area – a proper city in its own right, though technically a ‘district’ of Chongqing today. Named so because it was historically place where “a myriad rivers converge and a myriad traders gather” (万川毕汇、万商云集) – though a chunk of Wanzhou today lies beneath 150 meters of water in the reservoir created by the three gorges dam. One of their famous noodle dishes is called ‘Zajiang Noodle’ (not to be confused with the Northern ‘Zhajiang Noodle’), which’s some dry noodles topped with meat sauce.

3. Chongqing, Mala Xiaomian. Historically the focal point of trade in the Sichuan province. Their noodle dish of choice is the fiery xiaomian (‘small noodles’). While historically these noodles were always served dry, today you can find them either dry or in soup.

4. Yibin, Burning Noodles. Yibin lies at the Yangtze’s highest navigable point – at the intersection of the Yangtze and the Min river (the latter going up to Leshan – home of the Leshan Giant Buddha – and Chengdu).

So. Why do all of these places have dry noodles? Even though these cities span three different provinces, they were all so influenced by the Yangtze river trade that there’s this… similarity to the cultures there that’s hard to put into words. They’ve all got this… ineffable toughness to them, and these river towns were some of the first in the country to use chili pepper extensively. Some people say that dry noodles were originally popular on the docks because, well, rocky boats aren’t exactly the best place to scarf down a soup noodle. Or perhaps it’s a climate thing. Or maybe, I dunno, they just liked their noodles sans soup for the same reason people in the West generally eat noodles dry – they just… liked them better sometimes. I dunno.

Now of course, this is one of those classic street food sort of dishes, which means its paradoxically (A) simple to serve but (B) time consuming to prep. The way I’d personally sort this logistically would be to sort all of your ingredients in advance (on the weekend or something) and toss them in the fridge. Then the remaining cook time is like… five minutes of work max, so it makes for a great quick snack or an easy dinner, that kind of thing.

So I’ll be splitting this up into three sections. First, ‘stuff to prep in advance’. Second, ‘how to make noodles’ (just in case you’re feeling a Sichuan noodle making project… any sort of alkaline noodle should work ok though). Then lastly, ‘how to make a bowl of burning noodles’. Apologies if this gets confusing – I just was wracking my brain trying to figure out the best way to organize this all so that we could all stay true to the essence of this dish (a quick meal) while still staying true to the flavor.

Things to prepare in advance for Burning Noodles

Ok, so there’s either three or four things that I think would be convenient to prepare in advance:

• An Yibin-style chili oil called ‘xiangyou’.

• Toasted crushed peanuts.

• Toasted crushed sesame seeds.

• Toasted yacai – pickled and fermented mustard greens.

For those then, you’ll need:

1. Dried Sichuan Erjingtiao chilis (二荆条) -or- Arbols, 20g; Dried Heaven Facing Chili (朝天椒) -or- Thai Birds Eye, 10g; or sub in ~1/3 cup of a good chili powder. So traditionally the chili oil is made with a toasted chili powder – a powder made from a mix of two parts Sichuan erjingtiao chili (a chili that’s roughly as how as cayenne and is known for its vibrant red color) and one part Heaven facing chili (a… quite spicy chili that’s related to and slightly more mild than Thai bird’s eye). Arbols or cayennes are an acceptable sub for Erjingtiao (though you could perhaps add a pinch of Korean chili powder for color if its convenient), Thai bird’s eye is a very close sub for Heaven facing (though Thai bird’s eye is hotter, fair warning).

2. Sichuan caiziyou (菜籽油) -or- Indian mustard seed oil -or- Peanut oil (花生油), 60g. So right – like all oil-heavy dishes in the Chinese southwest, Yibin xiangyou relies on a virgin rapeseed oil called Caiziyou. It’s… really really hard to come by in the West (though there’s been some sightings in NYC, and it looks like Mala Market – an online Sichuan ingredient shop – might be getting some in soon). I bring it up not to tease you, but because it’s a foundational flavor. After testing a number of different oils, I found Indian mustard seed oil to be almost indistinguishable after heating it up… close enough to be a direct sub. That said, I know Indian mustard seed oil also isn’t exactly a supermarket staple in the West… so barring that, just use peanut oil. Not perfect, but should still taste good.

3. Lard (猪油) -or- cooked peanut oil (花生油), 60g. So after making the chili oil, we’ll be mixing in a good chunk of melted lard. That said, this is one of those almost-veg dishes, so if you’re cooking for vegetarians… feel free to swap in cooked peanut oil instead. Basically just heat the peanut oil up til smoke point like we do in the recipe below, cool it down a bit and reserve (note: add the peanut oil at, let's say... 80C give or take). Not as authentic as lard, but should still be real nice in the dish.

4. Spices/seasonings for the chili oil: 25g smashed ginger (姜), one whole walnut (带壳核桃), ½ cinnamon stick (桂皮), 2 star anise (八角), 1 tsp Sichuan peppercorn (花椒). Yep, that one whole walnut – shell and all. Lends a nice earthiness to the chili oil… a real classic in Yibin xiangyou.

5. Peanuts (生花生), 5 tbsp. We’ll be toasting these, then crushing them. If you’d like, feel free to swap for an equal amount of roasted peanuts in order to skip the toasting process.

6. Sesame seeds (白芝麻), 1.5 tbsp. We’ll also be toasting and crushing these as well.

7. Yacai (芽菜), ~1/2 cup. So right. The bane of many people in the West attempting to recreate Sichuan dishes – yacai (pickled and fermented mustard greens) is a non-negotiable must here. While not all Asian supermarkets carry it, the good ones do – and it’s always available extremely overpriced online.

Note that all of these amounts’ll be enough for 4-5 bowls of noodles. Feel free to scale these up if you’d like.

Process: Chili oil, nuts, and yacai prep:

Let’s just start with the chili oil because it’s the most intensive. For the chili oil:

1. If working from dried chilis, toast for ~5 minutes over medium-low flame. The chilis’ll be done once they’ve deepened in color and started to smell real nice. As always with toasting chilis though, it’s safer to under toast than over toast.

2. Snip the chilis into 2cm sections, keeping the seeds but tossing the stems.

3. Pulse for ~6 minutes in a blender until the chilis are rather fine flakes. Reserve. You’re looking for a pretty ‘powdery’ chili flake – something like this.

4. Heat up your 60g of caiziyou (or mustard seed oil, or peanut oil) until it begins to smoke, ~230C. Keep it at that temperature for about 1-2 minutes, then shut off the heat. Yeah, that’s not a typo – 230C. Heating the oil like this is a must for both Sichuan caiziyou and Indian mustard seed oil – doing so’ll significantly reduce the pungency of the oil. Makes peanut oil taste pretty good, too.

5. Let the oil cool down to 200-210C, then add in the ginger, the walnut, the Sichuan peppercorn, the cinnamon, and the star anise. Cook for ~5 minutes. Adding this stuff’ll lower the temperature – not a problem, we’re looking for this to slowly cook at around 150C. If the temperature dips too far below 150C (likely), swap the heat back on to roughly cook at that temperature. It’s fine if it’s a bit variable, but you do need it to be at ~150 before the next step.

6. Take out some of the clunkier spices, then strain the oil into the chili flakes. It’ll sizzle in a real satisfying way. Quick stir.

7. Melt the lard, then pour it in with the chili oil. Another quick stir.

And… there you have it. Reserve that stuff, it’s good to use for the burning noodles.

As for everything else?

1. Toasted the peanuts over a medium flame for ~12 minutes. Toast until the peanuts are cooked through and charred on the outside.

2. Rub the peanuts with your fingers, then lightly blow off the peels. Or peel however you feels like, but blowing the peels off is a lot easier than going one by one.

3. Put the toasted peanuts in a bag, and light roll over them with a rolling pin or a 24oz beer bottle for ~2 minutes. A beer bottle is super classic for this lol. Regardless, you want something about this consistency. (Sorry for the blurry pic there)

4. Toast the sesame seeds over a medium-low flame for about five minutes. Or until the sesame seeds start to darken and/or you can hear a couple popping.

5. In a mortar -or- with a bag/beer bottle, ever so lightly crush the sesame to get them to release their oil. Some that looks about like this.

6. Soak the yacai in cool water for ~5 minutes. Doing this will get out their salinity.

7. Toast the yacai over a medium-low flame for 1-2 minutes. Or until dry and just barely beginning to stick to the wok.

Note that we actually didn’t toast our yacai because we… prefer it untoasted. It’s a little sharper and funkier that way. The more proper way is to toast though, so… do that.

How to Make Sichuan-style Alkaline Noodles

Ok, so again. This is not a must or anything. Want to sub in Japanese ramen noodles? Sure, go for it. But really… any noodle that has a nice bite to it should work fine. Want to use dried spaghetti? I mean… it wouldn’t be the same for sure, but it could still be tasty. Just be sure to cook al dente, and never tell a soul I said it was ok.

But I do think it’s nice to undertake a noodle project every now and then – if only to help understand what you’re going for, and to guide more informed shopping choices in the future.

It’s also pretty easy in the grand scheme of things. And we’ll be using a pasta maker and a stand mixer to make our life even easier.

Ingredients, Sichuan-style alkaline noodles:

1. Bread flour -or- Chinese noodle flour (高筋面粉), 300g. Basically anything with a higher gluten content – we were working with something that was 12.8% protein IIRC.

2. Water, 125g. Or I guess 126 to be exact – we were going with 42% hydration. Note that this’ll make for a really dry dough… and some recipes go even drier than that (we actually saw one that was 38% hydration).

3. Sodium carbonate (碱面), ½ tsp. So yeah – that’s sodium carbonate, not sodium bicarbonate (i.e. baking soda). It’s a much stronger base… sporting a pH of ~11.5 to baking soda’s ~8.5. It’s readily available online, and feel free to sub in Jianshui/Kan Sui/Lye water if that’s more convenient. All of the above inconvenient? Feel free to use the baked baking soda trick – I’ll detail how in the notes below.

Process, Sichuan style alkaline noodles:

1. Dissolve the sodium carbonate in with the water. Mix well.

2. Slowly add the water/sodium carbonate mixture into the flour, mixing it in bit by bit. Especially because this’s a pretty dry dough, so doing it bit by bit helps the flour absorb the water more evenly. Aim for the dry parts when tossing in the water. I like mixing in with a single chopstick – less sticky that way.

3. Knead for ~8 minutes -or- use a stand mixer with the hook attachment on speed two. Same ~8 minutes. Especially with the hook attachment, you might find the dough to still be a bit crumbly after eight minutes – no problem at all, just press and knead it together by hand until it all comes together. It’ll still be a bit craggly – no worries.

4. Cover, let it rest for ~30 minutes.

5. Cut the dough in half, then roll it into something that looks vaguely ‘sheet-ish’. We’ll be working this one half at a time. Rolling it’s just to get it to squeeze into the pasta maker easier.

6. Flour the dough and pasta maker, then pass it through at the largest setting. Then do the same at the third smallest setting.

7. Fold the dough ~four times, then slice it with a knife to make noodles. So two choices here – machine cut or knife cut noodles. If you want your pasta maker to cut them, just uh… cut them. We’re looking for noodles that’re about 2mm wide. You can also cut them by hand too, of course – there’s something about the texture of knife cut noodles that I seem to prefer, but it’s hard to pinpoint what exactly. Either way, you want something that looks more or less like this.

8. Pull apart and thoroughly flour the noodles. Add more flour than you think you might need when flouring them – nothing’s worse than making a bunch of noodles, only to have them end up as one sticky mass.

In an ideal world, eat… soon. But I’ve found these are still quite good even 48-72 hours later too.

Putting together our Burning Noodles

So in Yibin, in most of the noodle shops you have one of two choices: 100g of noodles (二两) or 150g of noodles (三两). We’ll be assuming a 150g bowl of noodles, mostly just because it feels a bit more substantive to me personally.

Ingredients, one bowl of burning noodles:

1. Fresh noodles, 150g.

2. Yibin chili oil, 2 tbsp. I.e. the chili oil from above.

3. Light soy sauce (生抽), 1 tsp.

4. Toasted sesame oil, 1 tsp. Actually most authentic here would be untoasted sesame oil (referred to as ‘white’ sesame oil – 白芝麻油). We used toasted out of laziness in sourcing mostly, but both work great.

5. Toasted -or- untoasted yacai (芽菜), 2 tbsp. So yeah, we actually preferred ours untoasted here. But toasted yacai is more proper, so let that be your default choice.

6. Mixed toasted crushed peanuts/sesame, 2 tbsp.

7. Sliced scallion greens (葱), ~2 tbsp.

8. MSG (味精), ¼ tsp -or- chicken bouillon powder (鸡粉), ½ tsp. Either way – chicken bouillon powder’s basically MSG (well actually usually a mix of disodium inosinate and disodium guanylate given how hyperbolic some Westerns are of MSG) plus some other stuff anyhow. You find see both in Yibin.

Process, Burning Noodles:

Ok, quick aside on equipment. One super classic thing that you’ll see in Yibin are these things – basically, vendors’ll toss the noodles in after cooking and vigorously strain them in a snapping circular motion. You certainly don’t need to be that obsessive – just do a bang up job straining them. That said, if something conical like a chinois is handy, why not? Just toss the noodles in and snap strain like the vendors do. Plus, you feel all cool doing it.

You don’t want too much time in between straining and doing the initial mix with the liquid ingredients (like, ~60 seconds max), so be sure to have everything handy.

1. Cook the noodles until -just- past al dente, ~1 minute. I usually just time this kind of thing by trying it and seeing what the texture’s like… it ended up being ~1 minute for the fresh alkaline noodles we made above. But don’t take my word for it – if you’re working with a package, go with the package… and even if you’re using the same fresh noodle recipe above, it’s possible that you couldn’t cut your noodles a little thinner or a little thicker. So yeah. Taste the noodles.

2. Thoroughly strain the noodes. It’s really tough to describe this motion… basically you barely lift the strainer up above your shoulder, then snap it down to your waist. Do this 4-5 times and the noodles should be pretty dry. Or alternatively, strain however the hell you feel like – just make sure to move fast so they’re not clumping/sticking on you.

3. Add the liquid ingredients: the chili oil, the soy sauce, the sesame oil. Give it a thorough mix.

4. Top with the rest of the ingredients, then serve. Mix it all up right before eating.

Note on how to make sodium carbonate:

So, why do we even use baking soda in baked goods and such? Well, for two reasons. First is that you can combine it with an acid like cream of tartar and make things puff up in the same way your elementary science fair volcano puffed up.

Reason two? To make it decompose.

See, at temperatures above 80C, baking soda decomposes and forms (1) water vapor (well, water vapor over 100C of course…) (2) carbon dioxide and (3) sodium carbonate. That CO2 is what the gluten network in your pancakes traps, and what makes them light and airy. But you can take advantage of the same reaction to get your hands on some sodium carbonate, even if it’s not sold at your local supermarket.

Hat tip to Alex the French Guy cooking for this bit, his channel’s where I first heard of this. Just spread some baking soda out on a tray and bake it in a pre-heated oven at 150C for one hour. After that, jar it up and… there’s some sodium carbonate for you. Use it for this recipe, and basically anytime a recipe writer is telling you to use baking soda in order to raise pH (e.g. in Chinese velveting/marinades, the onion browning trick, de-sliming shrimp, etc etc). Sodium carbonate’ll be much stronger, so you’ll need a much smaller quantity, and it won’t alter the final taste of the dish like baking soda sometimes has the tendency to do.