Dan Dan Noodles (Dandanmian 担担面)

Dan Dan Noodles (担担面) or Dandanmian is a Sichuan Chinese dish that really packs a punch. If you love super spicy Chinese food, then this Dan Dan Noodles recipe is for you! Crispy, seasoned pork mince is mixed through soft noodles, tossed with a hot and spicy sauce made with Sichuan chilli oil. One of the essential ingredients, Sichuan Pepper, is packed full of heat and when you eat the peppercorns, they leave a numbing heat in your mouth which is an unusual but pleasant feeling!

In order to properly cook Chinese cuisine, many unusual ingredients are necessary. Please don’t be put off by this and try not to leave an ingredient out. Like we add salt and pepper to every dish to season, Chinese cuisine calls for a whole range of seasonings: soy for saltiness; Sichuan (and other) pepper for heat; preserved vegetables for tanginess and umami. Every city has an Asian supermarket (my local, Matthews Foods, is my favourite place in which to lose an hour) and I got everything for this dish for under £10, plus most of the ingredients will keep pretty much indefinitely. Every ingredient adds something to the dish and for that true, authentic flavour it is best to stick to the recipe. Although, it is difficult to find two recipes for Dan Dan noodles that are exactly the same so once you try it for the first time, you can adjust the ingredients to your liking. If you have any questions about where to source ingredients or about the recipe, please contact me via email at kerry@documentingmydinner.com

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Dan Dan Noodles

Recipe

Serves 2

Difficulty Level: Home Cook

Ingredients

500g pork mince
1 teaspoon five spice powder
1 teaspoon white pepper
2 tablespoons freshly ground Sichuan Peppercorns (best to buy whole and grind yourself with a pestle and mortar)
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
2 tablespoons Shaoxing rice wine
1 tablespoon light soy sauce or sweet soy sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons of roughly chopped Ya cai (preserved vegetables- alternatively use zha cai or kimchi)
4 spring onion, cut on the diagonal into large strips
(Optional) 2 pal Choi, separated into leaves.
2 nests of Chinese wheat noodles

For the sauce:

3 tablespoons of light soy sauce
3-5 tablespoons Sichuan Chilli Oil (with flakes)
1 teaspoon Chinese black vinegar
1 tablespoon Chinese sesame paste (or tahini) and sugar
1 crushed garlic clove

Method

Mix together all of the ingredients for the sauce in a bowl
Heat a frying pan over a medium high heat and add a drizzle of oil
Once the pan is hot, add the pork mince and break up with a wooden spoon. Allow to sit and fry in the oil, not moving it around, for a few minutes. You want the pork to be caramelised and browned.
Cook the noodles in boiling water according to packaging instructions, adding the pak Choi for the final minute if using.
Add the preserved vegetables, five spice powder, white pepper, ground Sichuan pepper and garlic and stir fry the pork until golden and crisp.
Add the Shaoxing wine, soy sauce and spring onions and stir fry until caramelised and golden.

7. Spoon the sauce into serving bowls, top with a glug of the noodle cooking water, the noodles and most of the pork. Toss to combine, before adding more of the crispy pork on top. Sprinkle with more ground Sichuan peppercorns and Serve!