Pan-Fried Cantonese Noodles Recipe | Little Spice Jar (2024)

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Easy, weeknight-friendly Pan Fried Cantonese Noodles! These noodles have a smoky delicious taste just like your favorite Chinese restaurants version. Seriously the best stir-fry noodles you’ll ever have!

Pan-Fried Cantonese Noodles Recipe | Little Spice Jar (1)

Excuse me while I slurp up a few more of these chewy, pan fried noodles!

These Cantonese noodles are quickly becoming my life. They are a cross between my garlic noodles, and chow mein – are they are faaaabbulous.

And when so much goodness gets together on a plate these noodles become so hard to resist.

We’re talking about chow mein or noodles or egg noodles tossed in a delicious, slightly sweet, slightly spicy, soy-based sauce tossed with smoky charred cabbage and crispy noodles. Some of the noodles get extra crispy where they sizzled in the oil for longer and it adds the most delicious chewy texture to the dish.

Let’s talk cabbage. Let me tell you one thing – I absolutely love cabbage! It’s an economical, leafy green vegetable that just makes the best Hong Kong Style noodles, amongst other things. When we add the veggies to the pan in the hot oil, they get slightly charred and brown around the edges that just adds the most incredibly smoky and crispy flavor to this noodle dish.

Grab your wok! We’re making insanely delicious Cantonese pan-fried noodles!

Pan-Fried Cantonese Noodles Recipe | Little Spice Jar (2)

Ingredients for Wok Fried Cantonese Noodles

Hong Kong StyleEgg Noodles:For the noodles you can use chow mein noodles, lo mein noodles, thick Hong Kong style egg noodles or thin egg noodles. All of these work, Heck, you can even buy the stir-fry noodles that come prepared in packages where you just need to toss them in a large skillet. To make dry noodles, bring a pot of water to boil and then cook the noodles according to package instructions. Make sure to rinse the noodles under cold water to stop them from cooking further.
Scallions or green onions:trim the scallions and separate the white portion from the greens.
Sauces:You’ll need oyster sauce (or oyster mushroom sauce for my shellfish allergy folks and vegetarians!) as well as soy sauce. I like to use low sodium soy sauce and then add salt but you could also use regular soy sauce and skip the salt for this recipe. You can also use gluten-free tamari for this recipe.
Sugar:the sugar adds a bit of sweetness to the sauce.
Minced garlic:I use freshly minced garlic. Feel free to add anywhere from 2-6 cloves depending on how garlicky you want the noodles!
Red pepper flakes:You’ll need ¼ – ½ teaspoon of red pepper flakes. I also like to swap the red pepper flakes for ½ – 1 teaspoon ofchili crunch, however either will work for this recipe!
Toasted sesame oil:it’s very important to usetoasted sesame oilfor this recipe. The 2 tablespoon of oil really provide a deep, toasty flavor to the noodles. Using regular sesame oil just won’t provide the same flavor so definitely opt for the toasted variety for this recipe.
High heat oil:you can use canola, vegetable or avocado oil. It’s critical that you use a high heat oil for this recipe so that the noodles can cook at a fiery temperature without causing the oil to burn!
Mixed veggies:I love using a simple bag of coleslaw mix with some shredded carrots for this recipe. I’m not a huge fan of mung bean sprouts so I skipped them, but they would definitely add a more authentic taste. You can also use broccoli slaw or baby corn for this recipe if you’d like.

Pan-Fried Cantonese Noodles Recipe | Little Spice Jar (3)

Making Wok Fried Noodles

Start by boiling the noodles.Bring a large pot of water to boil. When the water is boiling, add the noodles and allow them to boil according to the cooking time listed on the noodle package. Drain the noodles and rinse them under cold running water. This will stop the noodles from cooking any further.
Chop the veggies.I usually use store-prepped vegetables for this recipe so that it really cuts down on the presswork. The scallions are the only thing I usually need to prepare. Cut them into 1-inch pieces then quarter the 1-inch pieces certainly so you end up with julienned scallions.
Make the sauce.In a small bowl, combine the oyster sauce, soy sauce, minced garlic, red pepper flakes, salt, and 1 tsp sesame oil. Set this aside for now.
Pan fry the noodles.Add equal parts sesame oil and high heat oil (I use avocado) to the pan, then let it get screaming hot. Add the noodles in a single, thin layer and let them cook for several minutes until crispy. Give them a flip and then add more sesame and high heat oil and cook the other side. Remove the noodles to a plate.
Sauté the veggies.Add a drizzle of sesame oil and sauté the whites of the green onion, carrots, and cabbage. Then add the noodles back to the pan.
Sauce and serve!Drizzle the prepared sauce all over the noodles and toss them in the pan until they start to sizzle. Add the green onions and then serve it up with your favorite protein.

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FAQs about this recipe:

What protein could you serve with this?

I’ve served my pepper steak beef stir fry, my salt and pepper shrimp and my simple asian grilled chicken with this recipe and it gets rave reviews every time! For my vegetarian folks – sesame ginger tofu, crispy honey garlic tofu, or black pepper tofu stir fry would be great!

How do you suggest storing leftover?

I store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Just reheat in a frying pan if you’d like to keep the texture chewy, or the microwave works too!

If you like this recipe, you might also like:

Crazy Good Garlic Noodles
Quick Sesame Gochujang Noodles
Sesame Peanut Noodles with Chicken
Garlicky Pad See Ew
Weeknight Dan Dan Noodles

Pan-Fried Cantonese Noodles Recipe | Little Spice Jar (5)

Original recipe shared January 2016, updated with new images and minor recipe updates, Feb 2024.

Yield: 4-6 servings

Unbelievable Pan-Fried Cantonese Noodles

Prep Time15 minutes

Cook Time15 minutes

Total Time30 minutes

Easy, weeknight-friendly Pan Fried Cantonese Noodles! These noodles have a smoky delicious taste just like your favorite Chinese restaurants version! Seriously the best stir-fry noodles you'll ever have!

Ingredients

12 ounces Hong Kong style egg noodles
8 scallions
2 teaspoons oyster sauce
¼ cup low sodium soy sauce
2 teaspoons sugar
2-6 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
¼ - ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes (or ½-1 tsp chili crunch)
½ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
2 tablespoons high heat oil (such as canola, vegetable)
1 ½ cups mixed veggies (such as coleslaw style cabbage, shredded carrots, and bean sprouts)

Instructions

NOODLES: Bring a large stockpot of water to boil. When boiling, add noodles and boil according to package directions. Drain and rinse under cold running water. Prepare the veggies while noodles boil.
VEGGIES: separate the greens from the whites of the scallion. Cut into one-inch pieces then quarter the 1-inch piece vertically so you end up with thinly julienned scallions; set aside.
SAUCE: In a bowl, combine the oyster sauce, soy sauce, sugar, minced garlic, red pepper flakes (or chili crunch), salt, and 1 tsp of sesame oil. Stir to combine; set aside.
STIR FRY: Heat a large wok or a 16-18 inch skillet over high heat. Let the skillet heat for several minutes until SCREAMING HOT. Drizzle with 1 tbsp sesame oil + 1 tbsp high heat oil. When the oil shimmers, add noodles in a thin even layer. Grab the handle, swirl the pan so the oil evenly coats all the noodles. Cook noodles for 4-6 minute untouched, or until golden and crispy.
FLIP: the noodles over using a large spatula. Do this carefully in portions if necessary. Drizzle the remaining 1 tbsp of sesame oil + 1 tbsp of high heat oil around the perimeters of the pan and again, lift the skillet with handle and swirl the pan to allow the oil to distribute. Cook noodles for 3-5 minutes. Remove noodles to a plate.
SAUTE: Heat the remaining 1 tsp of sesame oil, along with the white portion of the scallion for 10 seconds. Add the shredded carrots (if using) and let cook for an additional 10 seconds. Add the noodles back into the skillet and toss. Separate the noodles so there aren't any large clumps. Toss in the cabbage mix.
ADD SAUCE: drizzle with the soy sauce mixture and toss continuously for 1-2 minutes or until the sauce distributes evenly over the noodles.
FINISH: Add the bean sprouts if using and the greens of scallions. Toss to combine and serve immediately.

Notes

For vegetarians: swap the oyster sauce for oyster mushroom flavored sauce.

No large wok or skillet? you can do this in 2 batches (use a ½ tablespoon of sesame oil and ½ tablespoon of high heat oil per batch/per side.)

Have you made this recipe?

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30 Minute Meals Comfort Foods Dinner asian bean sprouts cabbage Cantonese cantonese style chinese chow mein lo mein noodle bowl noodles oyster sauce pan-fried pasta shredded carrots soy sauce

published on Feb 20, 2024

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