Spicy Chicken Noodles

Spicy Chicken Noodles

　　Spicy Chicken Noodles (or spicy chicken noodles with rice vermicelli) is a distinctive and flavorful dish from Guizhou. Simply put, it's noodles served with spicy chicken as the topping. It's both delicious and convenient—once made, the spicy chicken topping can typically last three to five days, even up to ten or fifteen days without spoiling. Unlike people in northern China who often have congee, fried dough sticks, steamed buns, or baozi for breakfast, breakfast in Guizhou more commonly consists of rice noodles or noodles.

　　 Ingredients and seasonings: one whole rooster (about 2000 grams), noodles (or rice vermicelli), chili pepper paste (ciba chili), Sichuan peppercorns, ginger, green onions, scallions, garlic, salt, soy sauce, MSG, cooking wine, and an appropriate amount of vegetable oil.

　　 Preparation method:

　　 1. Cut the chicken into 1 cm cubes, slice the ginger into 1 mm thick pieces, split the garlic cloves into two to three pieces each, and cut the green onions into 5 cm long segments.

　　 2. Heat the wok with vegetable oil until it reaches about 80% heat. Add the chicken cubes and stir-fry until they are just cooked, then transfer them to a container and set aside.

　　 3. Heat the remaining oil in the wok until it reaches about 70% heat. Add the ginger and garlic and stir-fry until fragrant, then add the chili pepper paste, Sichuan peppercorns, and garlic. Stir-fry until the chili pepper paste is no longer watery. Add the previously stir-fried chicken cubes and continue stirring until the chicken is evenly coated with the chili. Sprinkle in the cooking wine, salt, and soy sauce. Once the chicken is mostly seasoned, add the green onion segments and MSG, and stir well.

　　 4. Add broth or boiling water until it just covers the chicken. Cover the wok and simmer over low heat until the sauce has reduced, then remove from heat. 5. Boil the noodles until cooked, drain, and place them in a bowl. Add soy sauce, MSG, scallions, minced ginger, a little clear broth, and top with the spicy chicken cubes and chili oil.

　　 Flavor profile: Bright red oil, spicy and aromatic chicken with a lingering aftertaste.

　　 Key preparation tips:

　　 1. Chili pepper paste (ciba chili) is essential for making spicy chicken; without it, the dish loses its unique flavor.

　　 2. Choose a rooster weighing around 3–4 pounds. If the chicken is smaller, you can skip the slow simmering step and simply stir-fry until flavored, then serve. For larger chickens, simmer for 40 to 60 minutes, otherwise the meat won’t come off the bone easily.

　　 3. When stir-frying the chicken cubes, use high heat and plenty of oil. Simmering must be done over low heat. 4. When preparing the spicy chicken topping for noodles or rice vermicelli, use more oil—no additional oil is needed when serving the noodles or rice vermicelli.