Biang Biang Noodles (Yu Po Mian)
Biang Biang noodles show you the power of simplicity. With a spoonful of savory seasoned soy sauce and fresh, nutty hot sauce, these thick and meaty handmade noodles will send you into flavor ecstasy! {Vegetarian, Vegan}
Servings: 2 servings
Ingredients
Tomato sauce (optional but recommended)
- 1 tablespoon peanut oil (or vegetable oil)
- 2 tomatoes , diced
- Pinch of salt
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
Noodle sauce
- 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon Chinkiang vinegar
- 1/4 teaspoon dark soy sauce (optional)
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 green onion , white part minced, green part sliced for garnish
- 3 cloves garlic , grated
- 1 tablespoon Chinese chili flakes
- 1 tablespoon toasted white sesame seeds
- 1/4 teaspoon cumin powder
- 1/4 teaspoon ground Sichuan peppercorn (optional but highly recommended)
- 3 tablespoons peanut oil (or vegetable oil)
Noodles
- 2 bundles (150 g) dried knife shaved noodles (or 400 g fresh wide noodles or hand pulled-noodles)
- 4 heads baby bok choy , tough ends removed and cut into large bite size pieces (*Footnote 1)
- Chopped cilantro for garnish (Optional)
Instructions
Make tomato sauce
- Add 1 tablespoon of oil into a medium-sized skillet and heat over medium heat until hot. Add the tomato and a pinch of salt. Chop and stir the tomatoes until the tomato pieces break down, 4 to 5 minutes. Pour in a small splash of water if the pan becomes too dry. Add the tomato paste. Keep stirring for 1 minute until the tomato paste is evenly mixed. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
Assemble noodles
- Combine the soy sauce, Chinkiang vinegar, sesame oil and sugar in a large bowl. Stir to mix until the sugar has dissolved.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Blanch the baby bok choy for 2 minutes or so, until tender. Transfer the bok choy to a plate to cool off.
- In the same pot, boil the noodles according to instructions. Once the noodles are done, quickly rinse with running tap water to stop cooking. Then drain thoroughly and transfer to the bowl with the soy sauce mixture. Stir to combine.
- Add the white part of the green onion, garlic, chili flakes, sesame seeds, cumin powder and ground Sichuan peppercorn on top of the noodles.
- Heat the oil in a small saucepan over medium heat until hot. Immediately pour the hot oil over the noodles, covering as much seasoning as possible. Then stir everything together to mix well while the oil is still hot.
- Add the tomato sauce and mix again (if using).
- Garnish with baby bok choy and cilantro. Serve immediately.
Notes
- Other Chinese greens like choy sum, gai lan, and pea shoots all work well. You can also cut up some cucumber and top it on the noodles directly.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving, Calories: 452kcal, Carbohydrates: 36.4g, Protein: 9.1g, Fat: 32g, Saturated Fat: 5.3g, Sodium: 549mg, Potassium: 499mg, Fiber: 2.7g, Sugar: 6.4g, Calcium: 101mg, Iron: 2mg