Heady with the combo of Sichuan peppercorns and cumin, these veggie-filled noodles are a delicious, healthy one-pot meal. You can sub out paneer or tofu crumbles for the lamb, and there is a Sichuan chili hack too!
Cook the noodles as instructed on the package. Make sure not to overcook them because they will be heated through with the sauce and vegetables.
In a small pan over medium heat, toast the cumin and Sichuan peppercorns for a minute or two until fragrant.
Grind into a powder in a mortar and pestle or spice grinder.
Add oil in a saucepan or dutch oven over medium-high heat and brown the lamb. When almost fully cooked, add the ginger, garlic, and ground cumin and Sichuan peppercorns. Cook for a minute or two until the garlic no longer smells raw.
Add in the vegetables, chili paste, oyster sauce, soy sauce, salt, vinegar, and spring onions.
Cook over medium-high heat until the vegetables have softened; about 3 minutes.
Add in the noodles and stir well to combine. Heat for a minute or two and make sure to taste for enough salt, vinegar, and heat from the chili sauce. Garnish with any or all of the garnishing ideas above.
Notes
Use the noodles you love: ramen, udon, rice noodles (wide or thin), glass noodles, Hakaa noodles, etc. Spaghetti even!
Sichuan peppercorns are not hot but give you a nice tingle. If you can’t find them:
Use 1/2 teaspoon black pepper mixed with 1/2 teaspoon whole coriander seeds
White pepper, do a mix of black and white. If using ground pepper do not toast but add directly into the sauce.
Korean chili flakes (gochugaru) or chili flakes of your choice are also good subs.
Chili sauce ideas: Sriracha or gochujang (Korean hot pepper paste), Schezwan sauce or chutney ( I used Chings Red Chilli Sauce), homemade chili oil making sure to dig down and get the chili flakes too, or buy Lao Gan Ma Chili Crisp.
Substitutes for oyster sauce:
mix together 1 tablespoon soy sauce and 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
fish sauce 1:1
2 tablespoons soy sauce, 2 teaspoons tahini (or any seed or nut butter or purée), 1/8 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon sugar. Soy sauce is thinner than oyster sauce and it isn’t as sweet, so this little recipe gets you close.
Vegetable ideas:
cabbage
carrots
red or yellow onions thinly slivered
capsicum: red, green, yellow pepper
peas
celery
bok choy
corn: baby or grown-up
snow peas
mushrooms
If you are not a lamb person, swap out the lamb for any ground meat of your choice.
Vegetarian or vegan: Use paneer or firm tofu crumbles to replace the lamb.