These popular spicy potato noodles are thick, bouncy, chewy, and coated in a garlicky, savory, tangy, and mildly spicy chili oil sauce. It's incredibly delicious and irresistibly addictive, especially with a sprinkle of cilantro! This recipe is definitely fun to make for weeknight dinner and pairs perfectly with some chicken karaage or Taiwanese fried chicken and Chinese smashed cucumber salad.
Ingredient notes
- Potato and potato starch - Although traditional potato noodles can be made by using only potato starch, we wanted to make the noodles as seen in the viral TikTok videos. The potato starch provides the bounce and chewiness, while the potato provides the flavor and also so that you won't have to use a whole bag of potato starch. Potato starch is available at most Asian markets.
- Water - Additional moisture is needed to make the dough come together. We recommend using warm water to help keep the dough warm and more pliable.
- Salt - For seasoning the noodles.
For the chili oil sauce:
- Soy sauce - We used regular soy sauce for this recipe. If you're using low sodium soy sauce, you may need to add an extra pinch of salt.
- Chinese black vinegar - Also known as Chinkiang vinegar or Zhenjiang vinegar. It's dark in color, fragrant, tangy but milder than white vinegar. It's also got a mild sweet and caramelized flavor.
- Gochugaru - Also known as Korean red pepper flakes, as seen and used in many korean recipes, such as napa cabbage kimchi, doenjang jjigae, and tteokbokki. You can use either the coarse or fine ground version. If you don't have gochugaru, Chinese red pepper flakes/powder is good too.
- Sugar and salt - To round out the chili oil sauce.
- Garlic and green onion - These two are the aromatics that will make the spicy chili oil sauce super yummy!
- Oil - You need oil to make chili oil sauce! Any neutral oil will do. We usually use avocado, sunflower, grapeseed, or just canola oil.
- Cilantro - This is not for the chili oil, but pairs incredibly well with it. It adds a nice touch of freshness to the dish as well.
How to make spicy potato noodles
Make the potato noodles:
1. Boil potato. Place the potatoes into a pot of boiling water and cook until fork tender, about 15 minutes. Drain well and place the potato into a mixing bowl.
2. Make potato dough. To the potato, add salt and mash the potato as fine as possible.
Then while the potato are hot, add the potato starch and mix until cohesive. If the dough is not too hot for you, try kneading the dough until it kind of comes together.
Add the warm water and knead until the water is absorbed and the dough is mostly smooth.
3. Portion dough and shape noodles. Cut the dough into 14 equal pieces and keep all the dough covered with a damp towel when not using.
3. Portion dough and shape noodles. Cut the dough into 14 equal pieces and keep all the dough covered with a damp towel when not using.
Working with 1 pieces of dough at a time, gently roll the dough into a ½ inch thick noodle/rope. Repeat with remaining dough.
📝 Note: This process is so much easier if the potato starch is kneaded into the potato while the potato is hot. It'll also be much easier to shape and roll if the dough is still warm. As the dough cools, it tends to become more brittle and likely to crack. If your dough cooled too much and breaks easily, we recommend mashing/pinching the dough roughly into the right thickness. Then gently roll it into a rope. Also, cooking the potato noodles as you roll each piece will help prevent the noodles from cracking.
4. Cook the noodles. Into a pot of boiling water, gently add the potato noodles one at a time. Make sure the entire noodle gets submerged in the water and gently give the noodles a stir to prevent them from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
4. Cook the noodles. Into a pot of boiling water, gently add the potato noodles one at a time. Make sure the entire noodle gets submerged in the water and gently give the noodles a stir to prevent them from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
Allow the noodles to cook until they float to the surface and then cook for an additional minute. Strain the potato noodles and place them into a some cool water.
Make the sauce and assemble:
5. Make the chili oil sauce. Into a heatproof bowl, combine soy sauce, the black vinegar, gochugaru, sugar, salt, garlic, and green onion.
Heat the oil in a small pan until it starts to smoke, and carefully pour it over all of the ingredients in the bowl. Give the sauce a stir.
6. Assemble. Drain the potato noodles well and place into a large clean bowl or plate. Pour the prepared chili oil over the noodles and add the chopped cilantro. Mix well until the noodles are evenly coated. Enjoy while warm!
Recipe tips
Work the dough while it's hot. Of course only do so if you can heat. But doing so ensures the potato dough is as pliable as possible, making the potato noodles easier to work with and less likely to crack and break.
Use a wide pot. It is essential that the potato noodles are completely submerged when they're added to the boiling water. If any part is exposed when first added, the exposed section will break off. Also, using a wide pot to cook the potato noodles means the noodles won't have to be curled as much to fit. The noodles become more fragile as it cools, so the less curling/bending, the better.
Cook the noodles one at a time if needed. If the potato dough/noodles become too cool and starts to crack and break easily, it's best to cook the noodles as you're making them. As the noodles sit, it'll become even more fragile.
Always keep the dough covered with a damp towel when not using. This prevents the dough from drying out.
Prepare the dough making station and cooking station close to each other. This is so that you can drop the noodles into the pot of boiling water, if needed, right after you finish rolling them.
Storage
These spicy potato noodles are best freshly made. The noodles are much bouncier and chewier. But if you do have leftovers, you can simply allow the noodles to cool completely, then store them in the fridge, in an airtight container, for up to 3 days.
Reheating
Although freshly made potato noodles have the best chewy texture, they can be reheated if you have leftovers.
We recommend reheating refrigerated spicy potato noodles in the microwave for a few minutes, or until the noodles are soft and chewy again. Make sure to use a microwave safe bowl and keep the noodles loosely covered while heating.
If your leftover potato noodles are not already coated in sauce, you can reheat the noodles by simmering them in a pot of water until they are soft and chewy again.
FAQ
What does potato noodles taste like?
These homemade potato noodles are very mild in flavor and have a slight potato flavor. The main flavoring of this dish comes form the garlicky, tangy, and spicy chili sauce the noodles are tossed with.
Can I use cornstarch instead of potato starch?
We do not recommend substituting potato starch with cornstarch because cornstarch will not yield the same chewy, bouncy texture that's provided by potato starch. You can find potato starch at most Asian markets.
What can I use instead of Chinese black vinegar?
If you can't find Chinese black vinegar, you can substitute it with either regular white vinegar or regular rice vinegar. NOTE: You may want to use about ½ tablespoon less of these two substitutes because they are a little stronger than the black vinegar.
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