Crispy Chilli Oil Noodles & Chilli-Oil Fried Eggs (Two 10-Minute Dinners)
Some jars are condiments. Keating & Co chunky chilli oil is an entire dinner strategy — all crunchy bits and slow-building warmth, engineered to turn plain carbohydrates into something you crave at 9 pm. Here are the two fastest ways we know to prove it.
Dinner one is noodles: the sauce gets mixed in the bottom of the serving bowl, and nothing is cooked beyond boiling water. Dinner two is even less work — eggs fried in the chilli oil itself until the edges frill and crisp, slid over rice. Both take about ten minutes. Neither produces leftovers.
What you need
- 200 g dried wheat noodles (or 2 bundles of ramen)
- 3 tbsp chunky chilli oil, plus extra for the eggs
- 1½ tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tsp rice vinegar (or Chinese black vinegar, if you have it)
- 1 tsp sugar
- 2 spring onions, finely sliced
- For the fried-egg dinner: 2 eggs, steamed rice and a splash of soy
Method
- Cook the noodles in boiling water according to the packet, and reserve a splash of the cooking water before draining.
- Meanwhile, mix the chilli oil, soy, vinegar and sugar in the bottom of your serving bowl.
- Drag the hot noodles straight into the bowl with a splash of noodle water and toss hard until every strand is glossy and coated.
- Shower with spring onions and eat immediately, ideally standing at the bench.
- For the fried-egg version: heat a big spoonful of chilli oil in a pan over medium-high heat, crack in the eggs and fry until the whites frill and crisp at the edges while the yolks stay soft.
- Slide the eggs over steamed rice, add a splash of soy and another spoonful of crunchy bits from the jar. Dinner two, done.
Upgrades, if you must: a fried egg on the noodles turns dinner one into dinner one-and-a-half, a spoonful of peanut butter whisked into the sauce makes it silkier and vaguely dan dan, and a handful of blanched greens tossed through at the end lets you claim vegetables were involved. One more thing — the crunchy sediment at the bottom of the jar is the good stuff. Dig for it.
The jar will not last the month — the condiments shelf restocks you, and Keating’s tandoori paste is quietly holding the answer to tomorrow night as well.
