Hot and Sour Glass Noodles for One (The Less Fiery Looking Kind)

English names for Chinese dishes can be misleading or confusing sometimes. The hot and sour glass noodles I'm making here is not the same as the fiery looking "suan la fen." Suan la fen is a Sichuan dish that looks red and oily, almost devilish in the eyes of someone who can't handle the heat at all.

The version I'm having here is much milder, but still with a kick from the Chinese aromatics. It's spicy, but in a way refreshing too, perhaps the julienned cucumber has something to do with it.

Hot and sour glass noodles for one - 

Ingredients?

• 1 serving dried glass noodles 
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 red chili
• 1 small stalk scallion
• 1/3 skinny cucumber
• 1 teaspoon toasted white sesame seeds
• 1 1/2 tablespoons light-tasting oil

Sauce:

• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon black vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon sugar
• 1 small pack/single serving chicken essence 

How?

Julienne the cucumber. Destem the red chili and give it a fine chop. Peel and fine chop the garlic clove. Destem and chop the scallion.

Mix all the ingredients listed under the "sauce" section. If you don't have essence of chicken, use some stock instead. Stir and make sure most of the sugar has been dissolved.

Take the serving bowl, add in chopped scallion, garlic, and red chilies. Also add in toasted white sesame seeds.

Drizzle 1 1/2 tablespoons of light-tasting oil to a small pot and use medium to medium high heat. Wait till the oil gets really hot then pour that right over serving bowl. The aromatics will start sizzling when in contact with hot oil.

If unsure about the temperature, you can try to drop in one chopped scallion and see if it sizzles right away. Timing the temperature of the oil can be tricky. Not hot enough, it won't do much to the aromatics; but if too hot, the oil might burn the garlic bits thus creating a bitter note.

Use another medium pot and add in some water. Bring the water to a boil and cook the glass noodles till desired texture. Once ready, drain and pour over to the serving bowl. Mix a bit with the oiled aromatics first.

Then pour over the premixed sauce and mix till evenly blended. Top with julienned cucumber and serve immediately. 

This recipe is a bit fancier than usual especially when you're just cooking for one. Of course you can simply use soy sauce, black vinegar, sesame oil, and perhaps some chilies for a quick dressing, but this version definitely adds more depth to it.

But more depth doesn't mean a lot more work. So if you have spare time and would like to level up the regular single serving noodles once a while, I hope this recipe can serve as some sort of inspiration there.

Extended reading:

• Chinese braised noodles with vegetable and pork 青菜豬肉煨麵
• Scallion oil noodles for one 蔥油拌麵
• Curry flavored beehon/rice vermicelli stir-fry  咖哩炒米粉
• Chili garlic noodles for one