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Recipe
45 min

Chili Crisp Noodles

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Chili Crisp Noodles
Author: Maggie Zhu

Recipe By Maggie Zhu

Published on October 6, 2025

If you love chili crisp, you'll love chili crisp noodles.

Time

45 min

Yield

Serves 4 to 6

Why This Recipe Works

This weeknight recipe was inspired by the Sichuan street food dan dan mian. It features the same elements—a chili sauce, savory pork, springy noodles, and tender bok choy—but uses a couple of clever tricks to streamline the process. We skip the made-from-scratch chili oil, and instead of cooking the fried pork topping and blanching green vegetables for the topping separately, we cook the ground pork and bok choy together, creating the noodle topping in one pan.

Ingredients

Chili Crisp Sauce and Noodles

½ teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns
⅓ cup unsweetened natural peanut butter
⅓ cup soy sauce
3 tablespoons Chinese black vinegar
¼ cup chili crisp, plus extra for serving
2 tablespoons sugar
2 garlic cloves, minced to paste
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
1 pound Chinese wheat noodles

Pork and Bok Choy Topping

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
8 ounces ground pork
1 pound baby bok choy, stalks sliced thin crosswise, greens cut into ¾-inch pieces
2 scallions, white and green parts separated and sliced thin
2 tablespoons Shaoxing wine
2 tablespoons soy sauce
½ teaspoon sugar

Instructions

Cook along with these step-by-step instructions

step 1 imagestep 2 imagestep 3 imagestep 4 image
  1. Grind ½ teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns using mortar and pestle until finely ground; transfer to medium bowl.
  2. Whisk in ⅓ cup unsweetened natural peanut butter and ⅓ cup soy sauce until fully incorporated.
  3. Whisk in 3 tablespoons Chinese black vinegar until combined. Add ¼ cup chili crisp, 2 tablespoons sugar, 2 minced garlic cloves, and 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger and whisk to combine; set aside. (Sauce should be thick enough to coat a spoon; add 1 to 2 tablespoons water to thin out sauce if needed. Sauce can be refrigerated for up to 1 week.)
  4. Bring 4 quarts water to boil in large pot.
  5. Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add 8 ounces ground pork and cook until browned, breaking up meat into small pieces, 5 to 7 minutes.
  6. Add thinly sliced bok choy stalks and thinly sliced scallion whites and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute.
  7. Stir in coarsely chopped bok choy greens, 2 tablespoons Shaoxing wine, 2 tablespoons soy sauce, and ½ teaspoon sugar, stirring to coat pork and bok choy. Reduce heat to medium and cook until bok choy greens are wilted, about 1 minute. Remove from heat.
  8. Add 1 pound fresh Chinese wheat noodles to now-boiling water; reduce heat to maintain very gentle simmer; and cook, stirring occasionally, until almost tender (center of noodles should be firm with slightly opaque dot), 3 to 5 minutes.
  9. Drain noodles very well in colander and rinse with running water. Drain well.
  10. Transfer noodles to bowl with ¾ cup sauce, tossing to coat.
  11. To serve, divide noodles among individual serving bowls. Top with pork mixture, then sprinkle with scallion greens. Serve with remaining chili crisp sauce and extra chili crisp, mixing each bowl well before eating.

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Chili Crisp Noodles

Recipe By Maggie Zhu

Published on October 6, 2025

Time

45 min

Yield

Serves 4 to 6

Chili Crisp Noodles

Ingredients

Chili Crisp Sauce and Noodles

½ teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns⅓ cup unsweetened natural peanut butter⅓ cup soy sauce3 tablespoons Chinese black vinegar¼ cup chili crisp, plus extra for serving2 tablespoons sugar2 garlic cloves, minced to paste1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger1 pound Chinese wheat noodles

Pork and Bok Choy Topping

1 tablespoon vegetable oil8 ounces ground pork1 pound baby bok choy, stalks sliced thin crosswise, greens cut into ¾-inch pieces2 scallions, white and green parts separated and sliced thin2 tablespoons Shaoxing wine2 tablespoons soy sauce½ teaspoon sugar

Instructions

  1. Grind ½ teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns using mortar and pestle until finely ground; transfer to medium bowl.
  2. Whisk in ⅓ cup unsweetened natural peanut butter and ⅓ cup soy sauce until fully incorporated.
  3. Whisk in 3 tablespoons Chinese black vinegar until combined. Add ¼ cup chili crisp, 2 tablespoons sugar, 2 minced garlic cloves, and 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger and whisk to combine; set aside. (Sauce should be thick enough to coat a spoon; add 1 to 2 tablespoons water to thin out sauce if needed. Sauce can be refrigerated for up to 1 week.)
  4. Bring 4 quarts water to boil in large pot.
  5. Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add 8 ounces ground pork and cook until browned, breaking up meat into small pieces, 5 to 7 minutes.
  6. Add thinly sliced bok choy stalks and thinly sliced scallion whites and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute.
  7. Stir in coarsely chopped bok choy greens, 2 tablespoons Shaoxing wine, 2 tablespoons soy sauce, and ½ teaspoon sugar, stirring to coat pork and bok choy. Reduce heat to medium and cook until bok choy greens are wilted, about 1 minute. Remove from heat.
  8. Add 1 pound fresh Chinese wheat noodles to now-boiling water; reduce heat to maintain very gentle simmer; and cook, stirring occasionally, until almost tender (center of noodles should be firm with slightly opaque dot), 3 to 5 minutes.
  9. Drain noodles very well in colander and rinse with running water. Drain well.
  10. Transfer noodles to bowl with ¾ cup sauce, tossing to coat.
  11. To serve, divide noodles among individual serving bowls. Top with pork mixture, then sprinkle with scallion greens. Serve with remaining chili crisp sauce and extra chili crisp, mixing each bowl well before eating.
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