Yo Po Mian

Yo Po Mian
Julia Gartland for The New York Times (Photography and Styling)
Total Time
20 minutes
Rating
4(1,844)
Notes
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A staple dish from the Shaanxi Province in China’s central northwest, yo po mian literally means “oil sprinkled noodles.” It’s traditionally made with biang biang, or hand-torn flat noodles, but wide wheat noodles are used here for a quick weeknight meal. (In a pinch, any dried noodles will work.) This dish packs a lot of flavor, but its preparation is deceptively simple: Noodles and greens are topped with raw garlic and chiles, then hot oil is poured over the top, which coaxes the flavor out of the aromatics. Yo po mian is typically very garlicky, but that’s been dialed back here with just four cloves. (Use more or less, depending upon your personal preference.) You could add ground Sichuan peppercorns for tangy spice, and if you have dark soy sauce, you can substitute it for half of the soy sauce in this recipe, as it will add deep sweetness and rich caramel flavor.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings
  • Kosher salt
  • 12ounces dried wide wheat noodles
  • 4heads baby bok choy (about 12 ounces), trimmed and sliced lengthwise into 4 pieces
  • 4small garlic cloves, peeled and grated
  • 8teaspoons soy sauce
  • 4teaspoons black vinegar
  • 1teaspoon red-pepper flakes, plus more to taste
  • 2scallions, thinly sliced
  • 1handful cilantro leaves
  • 8tablespoons neutral oil, such as grapeseed or canola
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

601 calories; 32 grams fat; 3 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 19 grams monounsaturated fat; 9 grams polyunsaturated fat; 65 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams dietary fiber; 3 grams sugars; 14 grams protein; 609 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the noodles and cook according to package directions until just al dente. When they are about 45 to 60 seconds from being done, add the bok choy and press the greens down to submerge them. Cook for 45 to 60 seconds, until they are bright green and just tender. Drain, and divide the noodles and greens between 4 deep noodle bowls.

  2. Step 2

    Divide the garlic between the four bowls of noodles, then top each bowl of noodles with 2 teaspoons soy sauce, 1 teaspoon black vinegar, ¼ teaspoon red-pepper flakes, some scallions and a small bundle of cilantro leaves.

  3. Step 3

    In a small saucepan (if you have one with a spout, it is very helpful for pouring the oil), heat the oil over high until it is smoking. (To test, touch the oil with a wooden chopstick or skewer; the oil should bubble vigorously.) Very carefully pour the oil over the garlic and toppings, dividing it evenly among the bowls. Toss to coat the noodles and serve immediately.

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4 out of 5
1,844 user ratings
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Cooking Notes

This is a dish that my grandmother always made for me growing up. Of course she’d pull the noodles from scratch. But using packaged noodles, this dish is simple and fast, yet packed with flavor. I recommend using chili pepper powder from Shaanxi instead if you can find it in your local Asian grocery store. It is less spicy and much more fragrant! Other chili peppers work, but probably won’t taste the same as the yo po mian you find in Xi’an.

8 tablespoons oil? That's half a cup. Why not make life easy? 8 teaspoons? Who's going to measure that? Why not 2 tablespoons plus a shy one? Or just round up to 3 tablespoons. Really. Life is too short.

Could something like pappardelle be used here?

If you can find black vinegar online, it's worth the investment. It's a great, versatile ingredient to have in the pantry. You can use a balsamic vinegar instead. Try to find one that is not too sweet, so ironically, a cheaper supermarket balsamic might work better than an expensive deeply sweet one from Modena.

Born & raised in Xi'an, this is our family's go to noodle dish. Everyone does it a little bit differently based on personal preferences. For example, we don't use cilantro, and I tend to use spinach instead of bok choy. I also do not use vinegar or soy sauce, as I prefer the more simplistic flavor of salt, Sichuan pepper infused hot oil, green onions, garlic, and Chinese red pepper flakes. My father uses both dark vinegar & soy sauce and it's also a beautiful mix of flavors.

Per Cook’s Illustrated, who often offers suggestions for hard-to-find ingredients, equal parts balsamic vinegar and rice vinegar can substitute for black vinegar. I’ve used this sub when making their Pork in Garlic Sauce https://www.cooksillustrated.com/recipes/6978-sichuan-stir-fried-pork-in-garlic-sauce?incode=MCSCD00L0&ref=new_search_experience_15

This is a fast, fabulous dinner. Really transports you to another place, and couldn’t be easier to make.

I bet you Aleppo pepper would work well here. Not as hot as your average pepper flakes and much fruitier.

Can NYT show sample packages if wide wheat noodles? Or a link. I do lots of Asian cooking but I don’t know what that really means— whole wheat? Flour based? So many different types of noodles out there if you have access to Japanese Korean or Chinese grocery stores.

Pappadelle often work as a substitute to Chinese wide noodles. I also personally quite like wide egg noodles (the ones often used in German and Jewish cooking) with Chinese flavors. You can find those in most supermarkets, i.e. Gelson's (West Coast), Whole Foods, Aldi, etc stock them.

or lasagna noodles broken up a bit.

Would using Chili Crisp oil be overkill for the oil?

I typically use white wine vinegar as a sub for Chinese black vinegar. While it lacks the caramel flavor of black vinegar, I personally prefer it over apple cider vinegar or straight up white vinegar which are too intense. Any noodles should work if you can’t find wide noodles. And no Sichuan peppercorn is very different from chili powder. Xi’an dishes do not have the numbing taste. I’d use red pepper flakes instead. I found wide noodles and chili powder on Weee! if they are available by you

This was delicious. I couldn’t find the wide wheat noodles so used pappardelle. I added grated ginger. Delish!

I recommend using chili pepper powder from Shaanxi instead if you can find it in your local Asian grocery store. It is less spicy and much more fragrant! Other chili peppers work, but probably won’t taste the same as the yo po mian you find in Xi’an.

We made this tonight! December 25, 2023. We loved it! We did make a couple of small changes; in addition to the bok choy we added broccoli, and we also added one jammy egg per serving. We will certainly enjoy this again. Simple and flavorful.

Deceptively simple. Why “deceptively” ? Isn’t it just straightforward simple?

We prefer pretty bold flavors so upped the amount of everything but the noodles, soy sauce and oil. Added a big spoon of Szechuan peppercorns. I found black vinegar at my grocery store - it's worth seeking out. I tossed it all in a pot after putting the red pepper and garlic directly in the oil. It was very tasty.

Fast, easy and flavorful. I used wide lo mein noodles, and it turned out perfect.

One of my favorite recipes, so good! I’ve made it many times. As written, except I use much more baby bok choy and I add quite a bit of ground, toasted, Sichuan peppercorns with the red pepper flakes. For noodles, I use store bought papardelle or home made AP flour/egg pasta rolled to 5 setting through the Kitchenaid pasta roller and cut wide by hand.

Yummy! We enjoyed this. We couldn't find broad wheat noodles (should have used pasta, as someone suggested), so we used broad and fresh egg noodles. They were a bit gloppy, so definitely recommend going with the dry wheat noodles. Very garlicky!

I increased the amount of bok choy because I love it and wanted more veggies. Otherwise made as directed- more garlic too- and it was delicious. I used dark soy sauce for half the soy sauce and added a little extra of that, too. Yum!

Absolutely delicious.

I am a bit partial to use peanut oil for Chinese based cooking rather than a neutral oil. I feel it gives the dish more depth of flavor. I love this recipe but the oil, any oil, was just too much so I reduced it.

So wonderful, quick, and tasty. Have made it many times now over the past year.

As easy to make as it is delicious! I doubled the recipe for a gathering with no issues. I used fettuccine noodles and balsamic vinegar because that's what I had and it was still delicious. Instead of putting the noodles in individual bowls before adding the soy-vinegar mixture and hot oil, I just added everything to one large bowl and tossed to coat and didn't have any issues.

This is one of my favorite easy recipes to make for myself on a weeknight - I love it! Pappardelle or egg noodles work great as well.

This is one of my favorite recipes. Fast and easy with very little to clean up. 10 stars!

Super easy and delicious. I used broken up lasagna noodles and rice wine vinegar.

Wonderful with wide rice noodles!

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