Making scallion oil

葱油制作cōng yóu zhì zuò

Infuse oil with scallions and stop at golden edges, before bitterness develops.

Application • Bringing core skills together

Thin scallion strips with light golden edges lifted from oil in a strainer.

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Before you start

Wash and thoroughly dry scallions, then cut into thin strips. Prepare a pan, neutral oil and a strainer.

This version follows the scallion-frying stage of Shanghai scallion-oil noodles; the source listed below gives full quantities.

Start gently
Warm oil over medium heat and add scallion whites; cook slowly.
Look for: Bubbling around the strips.
Add the greens
Add the green portions and continue frying, watching closely.
Look for: Strips soften, then begin to crisp.
Watch the edges
As the edges turn golden, lift the scallions out.
Look for: Light golden edges rather than blackened tips.
Use in the dish
Use the aromatic oil as your recipe directs.
Look for: The oil and crisp scallions are separate components.

Scallions have golden edges and the oil carries their aroma. Soy sauce and sugar belong to the subsequent noodle sauce, not this plain oil stage.

Tips darken too quickly: Heat is too intense for the thin strips.; Lower the heat and remove golden pieces promptly.
The oil tastes burnt: Scallions went beyond the intended color.; Burnt flavor is not reliably reversible; remake it.

Shanghai Scallion Oil Noodles (opens in a new tab)
Judy Leung / The Woks of Life · Recipe instructions; frying scallions
Drying, slow frying and golden scallion edges. This lesson stops before the noodle sauce. The burnt-oil remedy is an editorial limit, not a claim that the source tested a rescue.
Accessed 2026-09-05