Playing with Fly By Jing's New Noodle Packets

Four ways to add a little extra oomph to quick, delicious noodles.

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This week, as I dive headlong into all the holiday events—from family reunions to work parties to school assemblies—I thought I’d return to the question I confront every night when I get home from a busy day: What am I going to feed everyone? (If you missed it, my first post on these theme was a couple weeks ago. The struggle is real this time of year!)

While I love cooking from scratch, I’m definitely not going to turn up my nose at a really good pre-packaged food if it will help me out on these super busy nights.

Recently, that’s meant Fly by Jing’s new noodle packets. These are not instant noodles—they’re dried Chinese noodles packaged with pre-mixed sauces. The meal they make is essentially the same thing you’d get if you bought high-quality noodles and then made a really good sauce from the company’s other ingredients, like their chili crisps, Zhong Sauce, vinegar, etc. They’ve just done the work for you (and you get the benefit of their ability to balance all the flavors perfectly). There are two different flavor options, Chili Crisp Noodles, which are hot and slightly sour, thanks to a touch of vinegar, and Sweet & Spicy Noodles, which are based on the company’s Zhong Sauce.

(Full disclosure: I’ve been corresponding with Jing for over a decade, since back when we were both living in China, and she and her team developed a recipe for the Snacking Dinners cookbook. A few weeks ago, when we were discussing book-related things, they offered to send me some of their new noodles to play with. Obviously I said yes, please, thank you!)

When I make dinner using packaged foods, I almost always add my own twist: if I buy refrigerated ravioli, I’ll do a little brown butter with some sage; if I get pre-made tamales I’ll chop up some tomatoes and cilantro (like a pseudo pico de gallo) or make a quick guacamole. I’ve been taking this same approach to playing with Fly by Jing’s noodles—topping them with different foods I have hanging out in my pantry and fridge, to add my own twist to each bowl. These four topping combos are my favorites so far:

Shredded Chicken and Cucumber

This works with both flavors of noodles (and probably any other pre-packaged noodles — it’s hard to go wrong with some mild shredded chicken).

Pull leftover chicken (roasted, poached, rotisserie, etc) into thin strips and julienne some English or Chinese cucumber. Pile both on the noodles and shake on some sesame seeds, if you like.

Tomato and Herbs

The flavor combination is great with the Sweet & Spicy Noodles.

Finely chop 1 small tomato or 5 cherry tomatoes. Thinly slice a small handful of fresh herbs, ideally a mix of things like cilantro, basil, and scallion. Scatter everything on top of the noodles and top with a good shake of toasted sesame seeds.

Fried Egg and Sesame Seeds

This works on either style of noodles but I really like it on the Chili Crisp Noodles.

Fry 1 egg, sunny side up or over easy, and slide it on top of the noodles. Top it with some sliced scallion and/or chives and sprinkle sesame seeds on top. Break the yolk before eating and let it coat the noodles.

Peanut Butter

Mixing the Chili Crisp Noodles with peanut butter is a quick and easy (and absolutely delicious!) way to add protein; plus, you probably already have some in the pantry.

Mix the ingredients for the Chili Crisp Noodles with 3 tablespoons of peanut butter before adding the noodles. Top with chopped peanuts, if you have them.

Photos: Georgia Freedman