Recipes

Dan Dan Noodles

  • Serves

    serves 4

Of all Sichuanese street snacks, this one is the best known.

Ingredients

  • 1 (1") piece fresh ginger
  • 1 Tbsp. Chinese dark soy sauce
  • 2 Tbsp. Chinese light soy sauce
  • 3 scallions, green part only, thinly sliced
  • 2 Tbsp. hong you (chile oil)
  • 1 tsp. Chinese black vinegar
  • 12 tsp. hua jiao mian (ground roasted sichuan peppercorns)
  • 3 Tbsp. peanut oil
  • 4 Tbsp. Tianjin dong cai (Tianjin preserved vegetable), rinsed
  • 12 tsp. finely ground pork
  • 2 tsp. shaoxing jiu (Chinese rice wine)
  • 12 oz. mian tiao (fresh thick wheat noodles)
  • 4-8 leaves spinach, blanched

Instructions

Step 1

Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Meanwhile, smash ginger with the flat side of a cleaver or a large kitchen knife, then put into a small bowl. Add dark soy sauce and 2 tsp. of the light soy sauce to bowl and let ginger infuse sauce for 5-10 minutes. Divide sauce between 4 warm bowls, discarding ginger. Add one-quarter of the scallions, chile oil, vinegar, and ground roasted peppercorns to each bowl.

Step 2

Heat 1 Tbsp. of the peanut oil in a wok over high heat. Add preserved vegetable and stir-fry for 30 seconds, then divide between bowls with sauce. Heat remaining peanut oil in wok and stir-fry pork, breaking up meat with a wooden spoon, for 1 minute. Add rice wine and remaining light soy sauce and stir-fry for 3 minutes more.

Step 3

Boil noodles in pot of boiling water unti lsoft, 4-5 minutes. Drain and divide evenly between bowls. Top noodles with some of the pork and garnish each with spinach.