Dan Dan Noodles

Dan Dan noodles are a classic street food dish from the Sichuan region of South-West China. 'Dan Dan' refers to the wooden pole that street food vendors carry across their shoulders bearing the ingredients needed.

These addictively savoury noodles, laced with chilli oil and fragrant, mouth-numbing Sichuan peppercorns do require a reasonably well stocked Chinese larder, but are relatively straightforward to make and we hope they'll become a regular on your weekly menu. 

Sichuan (or Szechuan) peppercorns are a really important ingredient to this dish, and many other dishes of that region. When you combine the Sichuan pepper with hot chilli, garlic and sesame paste, balance it with black rice vinegar and honey, the sensation you get is unlike anything - invigorating, tongue-tingling and totally delicious.

There is a traditional way of serving this dish: Start by spooning in the sauce at the bottom of the bowl. Then you add in the noodles and top with the crispy pork, green vegetables, peanuts and spring onions. Don't be afraid of the 4 tablespoons of chilli oil in the sauce, it's really worth it and won't actually blow your head off.

Ingredients for Dan Dan Noodles
Serves 4
For the noodle sauce
225g Asian Sesame Paste or Wangzhihe Sesame Paste
2tbsps Light Soy Sauce
4tbsps Chinkiang Black Rice Vinegar
3tbsps Somerset Honey
2tsp Sichuan Peppercorns, toasted in a dry pan and crushed
6 Cloves of Garlic, crushed and finely chopped
4 Spring Onions, finely chopped
4tbsps Fussels Chilli Oil

For the Topping
450g Pork, Beef or Chicken Mince
1tbsp Finely Grated Ginger
2tbsps Shoaxing Rice Wine
1tbsp Hoisin Sauce
4 Spring Onions, finely sliced
75g Blanched Peanuts, roasted in lightly crushed
400g Bok Choy, sliced lengthways into quarters (or steamed spinach)
2tbsp Fussels Cold Pressed Rapeseed Oil

For the Noodles
4-5 Nests of Sau Tao Fine Egg Noodles

To Serve
250ml Somerset Foodie chicken stock, hot
Lao Gan Ma Crispy Chilli Oil - as much as you like

1. Toast the peanuts under a grill or in a dry pan and lightly crush.

2. To make the noodle sauce, toast the Sichuan Peppercorns in a dry pan for a minute, then grind to a powder in a pestle & mortar. Mix in all the ingredients together with a whisk and leave to one side.

3. Slice the bok choy and bring a large pan of salted water to the boil, ready to cook the noodles and the bok choy. 

4. To make the pork or beef topping, heat up a wok, add a tablespoon of rapeseed oil and fry the meat on a high heat. You want it to develop a nice colour and almost start to crisp. If any liquid comes out, keep cooking until it all evaporates. This should take around 5 minutes. Then add in 2 tablespoons of Shoaxing Rice Wine, a tablespoon of Hoisin Sauce and the grated ginger. Cook for another minute, then turn off the heat, leaving everything in the pan to keep warm.

5. Drop the noodle nests into the boiling water and cook for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. After 1½ minutes, drop in the sliced bok choy and cook for another 30 seconds. Drain everything into a colander.

6. You're now ready to plate up. Divide the sauce between 4 bowls, pile on the noodles and bok choy, top with the cooked pork, plenty of toasted peanuts, the spring onions, a few tablespoons of hot chicken stock to loosen everything up and a teaspoon or two of crispy chilli oil.

When you come to eat, stir everything together in your bowl and enjoy. If by any chance you have some left overs, they are extremely good eaten cold the following day.

Enjoy - and foodies, don't forget to tag us in your social media post if you make this at home. Ben