P
Chinese · Shanghai
Scallion Oil Noodles (Cong You Mian / 葱油面)
One of the simplest and most profound dishes in Shanghainese cuisine: plain noodles dressed with a few spoonfuls of scallion oil (spring onions fried low-and-slow in oil until caramelised and just crispy), soy sauce, and nothing else. The scallion oil is made in quantity and kept at room temperature — the slow-frying at 150°C caramelises the spring onions and creates an extraordinarily sweet-savoury oil.
‹Swipe for the next dish›
I
The Market List
The benchmark for each ingredient, and who stocks it near you. Tap a stockist to go straight to the product.
For the scallion oil
200 g
spring onions
green parts only
Your own market
500 ml
neutral oil
e.g. groundnut or vegetable
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
For the sauce
60 ml
light soy sauce
15 ml
To serve
400 g
fresh thin egg noodles
alkaline egg noodles preferred; fresh
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
Each tap is counted, so the stockist sees the demand Provenance sends them.
II
The Method
1
Place the spring onion greens and the oil together in a wok or heavy saucepan. Begin over low heat. The oil and onions must start cold together — do not add the onions to hot oil. Bring the temperature slowly to 150 °C over 20–30 minutes. The onions will first soften, then blister gently. The oil is ready to proceed when it holds a steady, quiet bubble around each strand of onion.
2
Continue at 150 °C, watching constantly. The spring onions will turn deep golden and begin to crisp at the edges. Remove them from the oil the moment they reach a deep, even gold — this is where the dish lives or dies: the onions continue to colour in the residual heat of the oil after removal, and a single inattentive minute carries them from caramelised sweetness to bitterness. Lift them out with a slotted spoon onto a plate.
3
Strain the scallion oil through a fine sieve into a clean jar or bowl. The oil should be a clear, deep amber-gold, fragrant with caramelised onion. Reserve the fried spring onions separately. The oil may be kept at room temperature for up to two weeks.
4
Combine the light soy sauce and dark soy sauce in a small bowl. Stir briefly. The sauce is done: it should smell sharp and clean with a deep, dark colour from the dark soy.
5
Cook the fresh egg noodles in a large pot of unsalted boiling water according to their thickness — fresh thin noodles require only 1–2 minutes. They are done when tender but still springy to the bite; drain immediately.
6
Divide the hot noodles among four bowls. Spoon several tablespoons of scallion oil over each portion, followed by the soy sauce mixture. Toss at the table or in the bowl until every strand is glossy and uniformly amber-coated. Scatter the reserved fried spring onions over the top. The dish is ready when no pale, undressed noodle remains visible.
III
Quality Hierarchy
01
Reserve — Hand-pulled or artisan-made fresh alkaline egg noodles from a Shanghainese noodle house; single-origin cold-pressed groundnut oil; aged light soy sauce from a traditional brewer.
02
Estate — Good-quality fresh egg noodles from an Asian supermarket; a clean, neutral groundnut oil; a reputable light soy sauce such as Pearl River Bridge Superior.
03
Market — Dried thin egg noodles, rehydrated and drained well; standard supermarket vegetable oil; standard light soy sauce.
04
House — Any thin noodle to hand — dried wheat or rice noodles; any neutral cooking oil; any soy sauce available, adjusted to taste.
IV
Sensory Tests
◇Sound. A quiet, even sizzle around the onion strands at 150 °C — vigorous spattering indicates the heat is too high.
◇Sight. Spring onions are a deep, uniform amber-gold and visibly crisp at their edges before removal from the oil.
◇Smell. The strained oil smells of sweet caramelised onion with no trace of bitterness or char.
◇Sight. Finished noodles are entirely coated — no pale strand is visible; the surface is glossy and amber-toned.
◇Where it lives or dies. The dish lives or dies at the moment the spring onions are lifted from the oil: remove them one shade too late and no amount of technique elsewhere recovers the bitter, scorched oil they leave behind.
Pillar V
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VI
What to Pour
The pairing
Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Buffalo Trace Distillery · Kentucky Bourbon Country
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
Whisky
From British Columbia
Nothing from British Columbia holds against this yet.
Without alcohol
No pour without alcohol holds against this yet.
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The whole pairingPillar VII
Origin and lineage are part of membership.
Where the dish comes from and how it came to be — on every recipe.
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Sourced through Provenance