Spicy Chicken with Soba Noodles

This simple and delicious Spicy Chicken with Soba Noodles takes the best of two famous Asian cuisines and fuses them into an amazing tasting meal. The Soba Noodles are classically Japanese, with their silky-smooth texture and wonderful flavor. The Spicy Chicken is a Chinese Szechuan-style Poached Chicken that is coated in a fiery and flavorsome Spicy Sauce. The dish is topped with a combination of Toasted and Fresh Scallions and comes together perfectly in the bowl!

You can enjoy this dish cold, hot, or at room temperature

I love a good recipe that doesn’t rely on a certain temperature to be served. First as a food photographer it makes my life a lot easier, as I’m not rushing to get the photos while it’s hot. As an avid food enjoyer, it’s great to know I can prepare this dish in advance, and it’ll taste just as good if eaten a little later

Personally, I think the best way to enjoy this dish is room temperature. I know you can enjoy Soba Noodles cold, but I find eating cold dinners a little bit too much. Room temperature allows all the luscious flavors of the dish to shine, without temperature becoming a factor (other than the heat of the Spicy Chicken that is!)

How to make Spicy Chicken with Soba Noodles

There are three components to this dish, each can be prepared ahead of time which makes this a very simple, relaxing meal to make. Those three components are poaching the Chicken, preparing the Spicy Sauce, and cooking the Noodles

Let’s kick things off by talking about the Chicken, as this will take the longest time to make. For this dish we use Chicken Breast, and they are poached in a flavored poaching liquid. I find this approach produces the most tender and flavorsome Chicken Breast

How to Poach the Chicken

I love poaching Chicken! It’s so easy to do, and you can simply set and forget while it’s cooking, allowing you to prepare the other elements of the dish (or just go and watch TV or something!). Fill a large pot of water, enough that it will cover the Chicken completely. Then, add some aromatics straight into the Water as you bring it to the boil

For Our Spicy Chicken with Soba Noodles, we poach the Chicken in a combination of freshly sliced Ginger, Black Peppercorns, Szechuan Peppercorns, and Salt. You can also add some whole Garlic Cloves if you like, as well as some fresh Herbs like Thyme or Rosemary

Bring the Water to the boil then add the Chicken. Now, to poach the Chicken there’s a funny little technique. You cover the pot and then remove it from the heat. The residual heat in the pot will slowly cook / poach the Chicken. For this reason, it’s best to use a pot that conducts heat well, Cast Iron is always a good choice

After about 30 minutes the Chicken should be cooked. You want an internal temperature of 160F. This tells us that the Chicken is done. Once cooked, remove the Chicken and set it aside to cool. When it’s cool enough to handle, shred the Chicken into strands using your hands or some forks then set the Chicken aside to cool

This amazing Sauce is what gives our Spicy Chicken with Soba Noodles its fiery heat!

Bringing the heat to the dish with a vibrant and spicy Sauce

The big flavors in our Spicy Chicken with Soba Noodles recipe come from the sauce. Classic Chinese ingredients are utilized, and the results are a powerfully spicy, yet wonderfully flavored Sauce. All you need to do to prepare the sauce is mix a bunch of ingredients together and it’s done

To the sauce we add Soy Sauce, Chinese Black Vinegar, Chili Crisps, Chili Oil (you can simply buy Chili Crisps in Oil and use the Oil in the jar here), Sesame Oil, Sesame Seeds, Sesame Paste (which you can substitute with Tahini if you like), White Sugar, and Szechuan Peppercorns. Phew, that’s a lot of ingredients!

Mix everything well in a bowl and taste it before adding the sauce to the Chicken. Be prepared for a hot sauce, that’s what you want! Remember, the combination of the Chicken and Noodles will help to mellow out the intensity of the Sauce in the final dish

Preparing Soba Noodles

We’re not going to suggest you make Soba Noodles from scratch. Leave that to the masters in Japan who have perfected the techniques over thousands of years. No, simply purchase some Soba Noodles from the store and cook them up in some boiling water

It’s important to immediately run the Noodles under cold water (or place in an ice bath) immediately after they are cooked. This will stop the cooking process and ensure you achieve that amazing chewy texture

Once your Noodles are done we finish the dish by preparing the Scallion garnish. I like to prepare the Scallions in two ways. First is to simply dice them finely and use as a garnish over the plated meal. The second is to cut slightly larger pieces and pan fry them for 5 minutes with some Vegetable Oil until charred

Plating and eating

Once you’ve assembled all the ingredients the last step in our Spicy Chicken with Soba Noodles recipe is simply to serve the dish. I recommend only mixing through a little bit of the Spicy Sauce with the Chicken and serve the rest on the side. It’s an incredibly hot sauce so it is best to allow people to add their own spice levels to their individual bowls

I would also recommend mixing a little bit of the spicy sauce in with the Noodles. It will not only give them an amazing flavor, but the sauce will coat the Noodles and give them an even more luxurious texture

If you like you can top the dish with some freshly chopped Peanuts. This is a fun way to introduce some crunch to the dish along with the freshly chopped Scallions. Then it’s time to eat!

Spicy Chicken with Soba Noodles Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 Chicken Breasts
• 4 Slices of Ginger
• 1 tsp. Black Peppercorns
• 1 tsp. Szechuan Peppercorns
• 1 tsp. Salt
  
  

Szechuan Sauce Ingredients

• 2 tbsp. Soy Sauce
• 2 tbsp. Chinese Black Vinegar
• ½ cup of Chili Crisps in Oil
• 2 tsp. Chili Oil
• 2 tsp. Sesame Oil
• 1 tsp. Sesame Seeds
• 2 tbsp. Chinese Sesame Paste (or Tahini)
• 2 tsp. White Sugar
• 1 tsp. Szechuan Peppercorns, toasted and ground
  
  

Soba Noodle Ingredients

• 2 Soba Noodle Servings
• 1 tbsp. Vegetable Oil
• 4 Scallions
• Salt
  
  

Instructions

1. Bring a large pot of Water to the boil then add the Ginger, Black Peppercorns, Szechuan Peppercorns and the Chicken. Remove from heat, cover, and allow it to sit for 30 minutes to cook the Chicken. Ensure there is enough water to fully submerge the Chicken
2. Once the Chicken is cooked (internal temperature of 160F) remove from the pot and allow to cool before shredding into strands using your hands or two forks
3. Combine all the Sauce ingredients together in a bowl. Mix about half of the Sauce with the Chicken, coating evenly. Reserve the remaining Sauce to serve on the side
4. Bring a separate pot of water to the boil. Add a pinch of Salt along with the Soba Noodles. Cook for 3 – 4 minutes then immediately strain and run under cold water or place in an ice bath
5. Chop 2 of the Scallions into longer pieces and fry in a large frying pan over medium high heat with the Vegetable Oil until charred. Dice the remaining Scallions finely and use as a garnish
6. Serve individual bowls of Soba Noodles and top with Spicy Chicken along with the cooked and raw Scallions
   
   

Recipe Notes

• You can reserve some of the Sauce if you like and use it as an optional topping / side sauce for serving
• You can also top the dish with some freshly chopped Peanuts for added crunch
  
  

Our amazing Spicy Chicken with Soba Noodles is a warming, comforting bowl of food that takes the very best of Japanese and Chinese cuisines, fusing them together in a harmonious bowl of deliciousness. The spicy Szechuan Sauce gives this dish a real kick, and is one you simply must try

For more tasty spicy dishes such as this one, check out these wonderful recipes of ours:

• Spicy Korean Chicken Bao Buns
• Bang Bang Chicken
• Spicy Rigatoni with Vodka Sauce
• Green Chili Burger
  
  

Happy Cooking!