I’d also love to call this ”Sichuan Instant Noodles”. Because the way it is cooked – boil the sweet potato noodles, dress it with a sauce, and finish it with a spoon of roasted peanuts – takes literally minutes.

It is not that I have a packet of premixed sauce, the ingredients are simply the large and small bottles sitting in my kitchen. To acquire a pungent and fresh spice flavor, I devoted a few more minutes in roasting and grounding the peppercorns like this (but without salt).

Although call it an instant version, I want to divorce any unhealthy image from it since it is less oily than many Sichuanese dishes. If you really like that shinny red hue, then just add some more red chili oil to the dish. And, it is also easy to go after the authentic taste by adding a spoon or two of fermented black bean paste to the sauce.

What I have here is simply a simple idea for adapting the popular Hot and Sour Noodles of Chong Qing (重慶酸辣粉), a major city of Sichuan, where it has been eaten as a snack, a side dish, or even a quick meal during lunch or dinner.

I did not add much chilies as the traditional way do, you may however tune the sauce with the hotness, sourness, tongue-numbness, or even replace the green onions with coriander (cilantro) according to taste.

• Ingredients
• 200g sweet potato noodles
• 1-2 tsp cooking oil
• 2 tbsp roasted peanuts, coarsely ground
• 2 sprigs green onions, thinly sliced

• Hot and sour sauce
• 4 tsp soy sauce
• 4 tsp Chinese black vinegar
• 2 tsp sugar
• 3 tsp sesame oil
• 2 tsp finely chopped garlic
• 2 dried red chili peppers, coarsely chopped
• 2 tsp Sichuan peppercorn powder, freshly ground preferred
• pinch of salt to taste

Enjoy!