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Rice Paper Noodles in Easy Chili Oil Sauce

Chewy, stretchy, translucent, and bouncy rice noodles doused in a spicy, aromatic, savory, and umami chili oil sauce, this addicting treat is naturally vegan and gluten-free, and the best part? You can make it literally in under five minutes! And if you happen to already have chili oil on hand, all you need is a BOWL and WARM WATER, that's it, I'm taking no cook to a whole new level.

This super easy and lazy method is for when you crave chili oil noodles but don't have either chili oil or noodles - I'm sure we've all been there. Turning rice paper into noodles was such an "intuitive" invention, it happened during the first covid outbreak when everywhere was on lockdown and all the grocery stores looked like they had just been robbed clean.

So one night, I was feeling peckish and wanted some comfort food, however, at the same time, I did not want to cook, like I didn't even wanna turn on the stove and wait for the water to boil to make myself a bowl of ramen noodles lol. And I was looking at my pantry and I grabbed the rice papers, I know they turn super soft with just a bit of warm water, so I cut them into strips like cutting construction paper, then poured hot water onto them, and boom! I got myself a bowl of rice noodles without even turning on the stove.

But of course, my first attempt had some problems, the dry rice paper strips tend to clump together when you pour water on them all together as they begin to soften. So with a few tweaks and adjustments, this fail-safe method is born! Within mere minutes you'll have a bowl of thick, chewy, bouncy rice noodles that WILL NOT stick or clump together while all you need to do remains just soaking, no boil water, no microwave, nothing else!

I even made the chili oil in the same bowl as well. If you already have chili oil at hand feel free to skip this step and just use that. I also made another super lazy and quick chili oil noodles recipe using wonton skins! Check out the linked recipe here. Watch the video below to follow the simple steps.


INGREDIENTS:

*this is a single-serving amount, multiple the measurements if making for more people

9 piece of rice paper

1 scallion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

4-5 Chinese dry red chili pepper, chopped

1 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorn, crushed

1/2 tablespoon gochugaru

1/2 teaspoon brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon Chinese five spice

1/2 teaspoon white sesame

1/3 cup canola oil or other high smoke point oil

1 star anise

1 bay leaf

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 tablespoon soy sauce or tamari

1 tablespoon coconut amino

1/2 tablespoon rice vinegar

Optional -

Cilantro and peanuts for topping


TO MAKE:

- Prepare a wide bowl filled with warm water, stack 3 pieces of rice paper together, soak them together in the water for about 20 seconds, try to press them together and push out the air bubbles in between as much as you can;

- Transfer the soaked rice papers onto a wet working surface, make sure to lay it down flat with no corner or edge folded, and continue to push out the air bubbles in between layers, then slice into 1 inch wide (or your preferred width) strips with a sharp knife;

- Pick up each strip and transfer it back into the bowl and let it soak for another 2 minutes or so, or until they're soft enough to your liking, do the same with all the strips;

- Repeat this process with the rest of the rice paper, work 3 pieces at a time, or use more if you want the noodles to be even thicker;

- Transfer all the soaked and soft rice noodles to a bowl;

- To make the chili oil, chop the Chinese dry red pepper, do not substitute it with chili flakes! Those are usually Italian style and already toasted, they'd result in a dark, unpleasant, and burnt-tasting oil;

- Crush and ground the Sichuan peppercorns with your mortar and pestle, or whatever heavy tools you have, these are what will give the sauce the numbing feeling;

- Add the scallion, garlic, chopped dry chili pepper, grounded peppercorn, gochugaru, Chinese five spice, brown sugar, sesame, soy sauce, coconut amino, and rice vinegar onto the noodles;

- In a small pan, heat the oil, star anise, bay leaf, and salt together for a few minutes until the oil is hot, if you dip a wet chopstick tip in there and the oil sizzles, then it's ready, take out the star anise and bay leaf;

- Pour the hot oil over all the spices on top of the noodles carefully, enjoy the sizzle and aroma!

- When the sizzling stops, stir to combine the noodles and the sauce, top with chopped cilantro and peanuts, and serve immediately.


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