The Best Spicy Noodles Recipe

Spicy noodles are a treat for all spicy food lovers with perfectly cooked noodles, creamy peanut butter, and spicy heat that is over the top!

Serves: 4 Time: 20 minutes Cookbook: Ken Hom Online

Here at Cook Like a Master, we love spicy food. If that spice is combined with pad thai, ramen noodles, wide rice noodles, udon noodles, or any other type of noodles, it’s even better in my wife’s opinion. Can you tell she really likes noodles?

Spicy flavors and Asian food go together like peanut butter and jelly. And when it comes to perfecting the classic spicy noodles recipe, there’s no one who does it better than Ken Hom. Hailed around the world as the master of Asian cuisine, Ken has done more to codify and teach Sichuan Chinese cuisine than possibly any other chef. He has award-winning cookbooks, multiple TV series, and a Michelin-star restaurant.

Today we present a delicious recipe with easy ingredients to find, flavor that will blow you away, and simple techniques that will bring authentic Chinese cooking to your kitchen. This isn’t the combination of ramen noodles, spice packet, and sauce packet, you remember from college days. This is a whole new world of cooking. Let’s get cooking!

Jump Ahead:

• ❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe
• 🍜 Ingredients Needed to Make Spicy Noodles
• 🍴 Equipment You’ll Need in the Kitchen
• 🥄 How to Make Spicy Noodles
• ♾️ Variations on Spicy Noodles
• ❓ Spicy Noodles: Tips, Tricks, and FAQs

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Delicious: There’s nothing quite like a good bowl of spicy stir-fried noodles with pork for dinner! It’s a hearty, enjoyable, and flavor-packed meal unlike anything else.

Easy: While there are a few steps to complete, this is overall an easy dish to make. We’d suggest prepping ahead for a particularly busy weeknight, but once you start, you’ll have dinner on the table in 10-15 minutes.

Authentic: This recipe comes straight from the master of Asian cuisine, Ken Hom. You can’t get much more authentic than this!

Ingredients Needed to Make Spicy Noodles

• Egg Noodles: This kind of noodles can be found at an Asian grocery store or your local grocery store. Look for lo mein noodles.
• Peanut Oil: This gives the dish a distinctly Asian flavor and really shouldn’t be substituted. Vegetable oil, like grapeseed, can be used in a pinch. Don’t use olive oil since it tends to smoke when exposed to high heat.
• Garlic: You’ll need several cloves. You can use pre-minced garlic if you have it on hand.
• Ginger: Fresh ginger lends a bright flavor to this entire dish.
• Green Onions: Sliced green onions in this noodle dish add another layer of flavor that needs to be there or you’ll miss it!
• Ground Pork: Ground pork is the star of the show and makes this dish hearty and deeply flavorful.
• Creamy Peanut Butter: Creamy peanut butter is ideal for mixing into the pork mixture and coating the noodles.
• Dark Soy Sauce: Dark soy sauce has a much deeper flavor than regular soy sauce. Regular soy sauce will work in a pinch if that’s all you have.
• Chili Oil: This is one of two elements that cranks up the heat in this dish. You don’t want to leave it out!
• Chili Bean Sauce: This is the second element that contributes a good amount of heat to this dish.
• Chicken Stock: Chicken stock or broth will do just fine in this recipe. If you have homemade, use that. If not, storebought will do just as well.
• Sichuan Peppercorns: Sichuan peppercorns have a taste and zing all their own. These are different from black peppercorns and are not to be missed!
• Sesame Oil: This oil has a distinct sesame flavor and pairs perfectly with Asian food.
• Salt, Black Pepper, Sugar: You want Kosher or sea salt, freshly ground black pepper, and white or cane sugar.

Equipment Needed in the Kitchen

Wok (Large)

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3-Quart Saucepan

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Strainer

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Mixing Bowls

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Tongs

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Serving Plate

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• Wok: This whole dish comes together in the wok, so you’ll want one large enough to hold everything at once. An extra large skillet can work in a pinch, but in order to stir fry, you really need a wok for the job.
• Mixing Bowls: A medium-sized mixing bowl is perfect for tossing the cooked noodles with a bit of sesame sauce.
• Tongs: Silicone-tipped tongs will be your best friend for working with the noodles.
• Spatula: A silicone spatula will be your BFF for working with the stir-fried meat mixture.
• Serving Plate: This entire dish turns out into a large serving plate for presentation.

How to Make Spicy Noodles

This recipe is surprisingly simple and straightforward, but the end result looks like you slaved away in the kitchen. Making this dish is beyond worth it. Let’s get started!

Prep the mix-ins

First up, get all of your prep work done. Stir-frying is a quick cooking method, so it’s important that you have all the mix-ins ready to go.

Peel and chop the garlic and ginger, and chop the green onion.

Cook the noodles

Now, bring a pot of water to boil. When it’s at a rolling boil, add the noodles and cook according to package instructions. Use a pair of tongs to separate the noodles while they cook and keep them from sticking to the pan or each other.

As soon as the noodles are cooked, drain them into a strainer and run under cold water to stop the cooking. Allow the noodles to fully drain then turn the noodles into a medium mixing bowl. Drizzle sesame oil over the noodles and toss to coat.

Make the spicy pork mixture

Next up, place your wok on medium-high heat. When the wok is hot, add the peanut oil. Leave until the peanut oil starts to smoke, then add the garlic, ginger, and spring onions. Stir fry for 30 seconds.

Now add the pork. Stir it around and break it up as it cooks. Stir fry for around 2-3 minutes or until the pork is no longer pink.

Now add the salt, peanut butter, soy sauce, chili oil, chili bean sauce, sugar, chicken stock, and ground Sichuan peppercorns. Mix well and cook for another 5 minutes.

Add the noodles

Add the noodles to the pork mixture and mix well over medium heat. Taste and adjust the seasoning to your desired spice level. (Hint: Like it hot? Add more chili sauce!!)

Turn into a serving dish, garnish with more green onions, and serve!

Note: This is an excellent base spicy noodles recipe. Taste toward the end and add as much chili sauce as you like until it reaches your desired spice level. As-is, this recipe starts you at a 🌶️🌶️ out of 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ in terms of heat.

Variations on Spicy Noodles

This dish is spot-on in terms of flavor, cooking techniques, and overall amazingness. If you want to mix things up a bit, we recommend having fun with the following suggestions.

Even Spicier Snoodles: In addition to the recipe, add some chili paste or red pepper flakes to the dish when stir frying the pork mixture. Chop up a few red peppers and throw them in, as well! When almost finished stir frying, add a pinch of brown sugar to round out the flavors and add a touch of sweetness to the super spicy dish.

Spicy Glass Noodles: Use glass noodles or another type of noodle instead of egg noodles for a different look and feel!

Different Protein: Use ground or chopped protein of choice such as chicken breast. It’ll be a different flavor profile, but just as yummy!

Additional Toppings: Add toppings like sesame seeds, chili flakes, a bit of chili sauce, or chili garlic sauce to pump up the flavor. You can also add extra vegetables to make it a bit healthier.

Spicy Noodles: Tips, Tricks, and FAQs

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