Sichuan Chili Noodles

Sichuan chili noodles are a one-ingredient dish masquerading as a multi-ingredient dish. The noodles are just a delivery vehicle. The entire flavor of the dish is in the chili oil, and if you make the chili oil well, even plain noodles become worth eating. If you use store-bought chili oil, the dish is fine but forgettable.

The homemade chili oil is worth the 10 minutes it takes. Combine chili flakes, crushed Sichuan peppercorns, toasted sesame seeds, and minced garlic in a heatproof bowl. In a separate pan, heat neutral oil with a cinnamon stick and star anise over medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes until the whole spices are fragrant and the oil is shimmering. Pour the hot oil over the chili mixture in the bowl. It should sizzle hard on contact.

That sizzle is where the flavor lives. The hot oil extracts the chili color, blooms the Sichuan peppercorns into their numbing citrus-like flavor, and cooks the raw garlic just enough to mellow its sharpness. Let it cool and remove the whole spices. The resulting oil is dark red, aromatic, and keeps in the fridge for weeks.

The sauce per batch is three tablespoons of chili oil, light soy for salt, Chinese black vinegar for that malty sour backbone, and a pinch of sugar. That's it. Black vinegar is not substitutable with rice vinegar or balsamic here; it's the specific ingredient that makes this dish Sichuan rather than generic.

Boil wheat noodles until just tender, drain (reserving a splash of pasta water), and toss in a bowl with the sauce and sliced scallions. The sauce will look intense and the noodles will look under-dressed at first glance, but the flavor blooms as the noodles absorb it. A splash of reserved pasta water helps if the sauce feels tight. Serve immediately.