Hot Oil Noodles

Wash 150 g baby bok choy and 100 g bean sprouts; halve the bok choy lengthwise. Mince 10 g garlic and finely slice 10 g spring onion. Put 8 ml light soy sauce and 8 ml black vinegar in each of two dry heatproof bowls. Measure out 8 g ground chili, 4 g toasted sesame and 30 ml vegetable oil. Bring 2 l water to a boil while you prepare.

Add all the bean sprouts to the boiling water and boil for about 1–2 minutes until cooked and steaming hot throughout. Add the bok choy and cook for about 1 minute more, until the leaves wilt and the stems are just tender. Lift out and drain, then divide equally between the two bowls. Keep the water boiling for the noodles; adjust the timing to the vegetables' size.

Loosen all 300 g fresh wide noodles and add to the boiling water. Separate gently and cook for about 2–4 minutes, following the packet, until supple with no raw, firm center. Maintain a steady boil and cook in batches if crowded. Drain well without rinsing, then divide the hot noodles equally between the two vegetable bowls.

On each bowl, place 5 g garlic, 5 g spring onion, 4 g ground chili and 2 g toasted sesame in adjacent shallow piles at the center of the noodles. Spread them enough for the hot oil to reach them. Keep the toppings on the noodles, out of the oil pan, and do not toss yet.

Pour all 30 ml vegetable oil into a dry small saucepan. Heat over medium heat until it flows freely and shimmers. A dry wooden chopstick tip should develop fine active bubbles quickly. Turn off the heat immediately, before the oil smokes steadily. If it is smoking heavily, remove it from the heat and let it cool before proceeding.

Set both bowls firmly on a dry heatproof surface. Immediately divide the hot oil equally, about 15 ml per bowl, pouring a steady thin stream in two or three spots over the garlic, spring onion and ground chili. The toppings should sizzle and bubble at once. Avoid the rim and exposed dressing, and keep the bowls on the surface while pouring.

Immediately lift and toss from the bottom with chopsticks, mixing the soy-vinegar dressing, sizzling oil and toppings thoroughly. Toss each bowl until the ribbons carry a thin glossy red coating and no unmixed dressing remains underneath. Serve both bowls hot; the noodles should be glossy rather than soupy.