A classic dish from Shanghai, scallion oil noodles are among the simplest dishes to make. Though you’ll be surprised by how delicious they are!
Pin this now to find it later!
Pin ItNote: This recipe was originally published in June 2017. This revised version includes more tips, process photos and a video tutorial.
Table of Contents
What are scallion oil noodles
Scallion oil noodles (Cōng yóu Bàn Miàn, 葱油拌面) are a humble dish originating in Shanghai. In appearance, it’s as simple as can be: boiled noodles coated with a shiny, brown sauce, and topped with fried scallions.
Yet, this dish can effortlessly excite your taste buds, a true example to prove the concept of “Less is more”. When I was on my Culinary Tours of China with my blog readers, I always made sure to order it for our dinner parties in Shanghai.
The key flavors of the dish come from scallions and soy sauce. These two basic ingredients play star roles in many popular Chinese recipes, such as Scallion Oil Chicken, Scallion Pork Chops, Scallion Ginger Salmon, Scallion Tofu, and more.
Thanks to a short list of ingredients and simple preparation, this dish makes an incredibly beginner-friendly dish that I encourage everyone to try.
🌟 NOTE: I also have a recipe for Scallion Oil. Much like Chinese chili oil, I keep it as a kitchen staple and use it for a variety of dishes.
Ingredients
Here are all the ingredients you need for this recipe:
- Scallions, aka spring onion, green onion
- Oil. This refers to neutral-flavored cooking oil, such as sunflower, vegetable, canola oil, etc. Since this recipe only involves pan-frying over medium-low heat, olive oil would work too although it’s not a traditional choice for Chinese cooking.
- Light soy sauce and dark soy sauce. The former provides an umami-rich saltiness, while the latter adds a brown shine and caramelized aroma to the dish.
- Sugar. Both white and brown sugar work.
- Noodles
🌟 Noodle choices: The traditional version uses thin, round wheat noodles as shown in the images. Please feel free to opt for other varieties. such as rice noodles, soba noodles, scissor-cut noodles, hand-cut noodles, or even Italian spaghetti. All worked well as the sauce would make everything tasty.
Cooking workflow
Step 1: cut the scallions
Rinse the scallions thoroughly and dry them with kitchen paper. Remove the root ends and slice them into long sections, then split each piece lengthways.
🌟 TIP: There is no need to chop the scallion too finely, as this can cause them to burn quickly in the oil.
Step 2: infuse the oil
Add oil to a wok or a skillet, then put in the scallions. Fry them on a gentle medium-low heat.
When the white part of the scallions turns a golden brown shade, remove them and set aside. Leave the infused oil in the wok.
🌟 TIP: During this process, pay close attention not to burn the scallions.
Step 3: make the sauce
Turn off the heat and let the scallion-infused oil cool for a minute. Then add light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and sugar. Stir to combine. The remaining heat of the oil should be sufficient to make the sauce bubble and fully dissolve the sugar.
🌟 TIP: If the oil has become too cold, turn on the heat for a short period of time to simmer the sauce.
Step 4: cook the noodles
To save time, boil the noodles simultaneously on another burner as you prepare the sauce. Follow the recommended cooking time on the package, or give them a taste if unsure about the doneness.
🌟 TIP: If you’d like to add some leafy greens to the dish (e.g. bok choy, spinach), put them into the same pot to cook right before the noodles are done.
Step 5: assemble the dish
Transfer the drained noodles to the wok, mixing them thoroughly with the sauce to ensure an even coating.
Dish out the sauced noodles to individual serving bowls or a large plate for sharing. Then garnish with the golden-brown fried scallions.
Make ahead
The sauce recipe can be easily scaled up for large batches by proportionally increasing the ingredient quantity. Once prepared, it can be stored in the fridge for about 1 month. However, it’s better to use up the fried scallions within 3 days.
Whenever you crave a bowl of scallion oil noodles, simply boil some noodles then toss them with the pre-made sauce. There is no need to reheat the sauce, as the heat from the freshly cooked noodles will warm it up and enhance its aroma.
Serving ideas
Shanghai scallion oil noodles make a wonderful meal, together with some proteins and/or a vegetable dish on the side. Here are some pairing ideas you may find helpful:
PROTEINS (all of the following can be made in advance):
VEGETABLES (all of the following require a short prep time):
- Smashed Cucumber
- Eggplant with Garlic Dressing
- Tiger Skin Pepper
- Chinese Broccoli with Oyster Sauce
- Stir-Fried Bean Sprouts
Additionally, I like taking this dish to potlucks because it can be easily made in a big batch and tastes good at room temperature.
Other noodle dishes
Looking for more classic Chinese noodle recipes? Check out these popular ones:
📋 Recipe card
Love this recipe? Please leave a 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating and a comment. Thank you!
Scallion Oil Noodles (葱油拌面)
Video
Ingredients
- 6 stalk scallions, aka spring onion, green onion
- ¼ cup neutral cooking oil
- 2 tablespoon light soy sauce
- 2 tablespoon dark soy sauce
- 2 teaspoon sugar
- 12 oz dried noodles, see note 1
Instructions
Prepare the scallions
- Wash scallions, then pat dry with paper towels thoroughly. Trim off the ends. Cut them into long sections, then halve each piece lengthways.
Infuse the oil
- Pour oil into a wok/skillet, and add the scallions. Leave to fry over medium-low heat. Once the white part of scallions becomes golden brown, take them out with chopsticks leaving the oil in the wok.
Make the sauce
- Turn off the heat and allow the oil to cool for about a minute. Then, carefully pour in the mixture of light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and sugar. Mix and let the remaining heat of the oil dissolve the sugar completely (see note 2 & 3).
Cook the noodles
- Bring plenty of water to a full boil. Add noodles and leave to boil until they’re cooked through.
Assemble the dish
- Transfer the drained noodles to the wok. Stir and toss to evenly coat each strand with the sauce.
- Portion out the noodles into 4 serving bowls, or put them on a large plate for sharing. Garnish with the fried scallions.
Notes
Your Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I made the spring onion oil and cooked the noodles all in one hit for dinner and the meal was enjoyed by the family. I added some protein in the form of diced chicken fillets which I’d stir fried and had marinated in oyster sauce, chicken marinade, sriracha sauce and tapioca flour. The crispy shallots from the spring onion oil added the final touch to the dish.
Lovely to hear how you served this dish. Sounds great!
Hi Wei, when I stir fry, I usually use vegetable oil, but since this recipe calls for medium-low heat, I used extra virgin olive oil (can’t help it, I’m Greek). The result was amazing. Very simple and easy to make on the fly when you don’t have time. As you say; “Less is more”, and with two little side dishes of protein and vegetable and you have a truly balanced meal.
Thanks again for another delicious inspiration!
So so so so good…. we get these for takeout and I wanted to recreate them at home. Nailed it!! Thank you for this recipe 😀
My pleasure Karen! Very happy to know you’ve enjoyed it!
Hi Wei
I would like to know whether to have this dish is served cold or hot?
Hi Yog! This dish is always served hot.
Can’t wait to try this! Will make it for dinner tonight but I don’t have any other noodles but spaghettini noodles 😔 and those in a ramen packages LOL.
Right now I got no choice but to try it with spaghettini and next time I will try to find different noodles. I hope it’ll turn out OK lol. Fingers crossed.
I’ve made the dish with spaghetti too. Hope you’ll enjoy it!
I tried it last night using 150g dried Spaghettini and was yummy but I wonder if I need to thickened up the sauce more because when I added the drained Spaghetti it became a bit on the watery side 🤔. I guess that’s normal?..
Also any recommendations of what kind (name) of noodles is suitable for this? Would really appreciate your help because I have been searching online and keeps showing me egg noodles kind.
One last question, what protein you eat this with?
Since spaghetti has a smoother surface than Chinese noodles (less starchy after cooking), the sauce tends to slide off more easily. Egg noodles are not traditionally used for this recipe (they are Cantonese rather than Shanghainess). Thin, plain noodles made of just water and wheat flour (sometimes with a little salt) are a good choice. You could pair it with any protein. There isn’t a set combination. Have a look at my Soy Sauce Chicken. I think they would make a great meal.
These are my absolute favorite noodles! I learned to make them when I was living in Spain but my neighbor didn’t have a recipe so I would just wing it! Thanks for this because now I have measurements and no longer have to guess
Very happy to know that you like my recipe. Have a great time in your kitchen!
I stumbled across this recipe a few months ago, and by this point it’s become a weekly staple in my household. Hard to find dark soy sauce around here, but it’s worth it. Thanks for sharing this!
It’s my great pleasure to share! Very happy to know you enjoy this dish. Happy cooking!
So good and so easy. Thank you!
Thank you Jodi for trying out my recipe!
These noodles were fantastic! Two years ago I had similar noodles on a back street in Qibao outside Shanghai and I’ve been searching for the recipe ever since. This wasn’t quite those noodles but they were very close! My kids loved them too. Do you recommend noodles with or without egg?
Thanks Ras! The traditional Shanghai version calls for noodles without egg. You may use egg noodles too (I assume you mean the cantonese style egg noodles). The flavour will be a little different.
Wow! This was the hit of our CNY dinner this year! Thank you for a fabulous recipe and new family favorite!
Oh That’s wonderful Karen! So happy to know my recipe has made your family’s CNY dinner a little yummier!
Wow, in Italy we have a dish that’s very close to it! It’s made with garlic instead of spring onion, and it’s delicious! It’s called aglio olio e peperoncino, that means (pasta with) garlic, (olive) oil and chili pepper.
Interesting! I would love a dish like that. Will give it a try!
Good taste but I personally found 4 tablespoons of soy sauce (2 of each) made it a little salty for my taste. Might try like 1 1/2 of each next time.
Thank you John for trying out my recipe! Please feel free to adjust based on your own taste.