The Living Dish

Dandan Noodles

An addictive, comforting dish straight from Sichuan

Prep: 20 minCook: 20 min2 servingsMedium
Dandan Noodles

Origin

Dandan noodles are a Chinese dish from Sichuan province, a region known for its spicy cuisine that really heats up the palate. In Chinese, the name is Dandan Mian (carried noodles), where dandan refers to the wooden or bamboo baskets that street noodle vendors carried on their backs using a shoulder pole. These baskets held the famous noodles they sold right on the street.

Rich & savory noodles

This noodle dish breaks down into 4 components, in the order they go in the bowl: the sauce, the noodles, the ground pork and the toppings. The characteristic flavor is in the sauce, which is very bold, with the chili oil and Sichuan pepper * balanced by the richness of the sesame and peanut pastes (you need to pay close attention to the bitterness these products can bring). On top of that, you have soy sauce, black vinegar, garlic and ginger. The dish can quickly become quite bitter from the peanuts and very salty from the soy sauce, so be careful about that and do not salt the meat or your noodles. Don’t forget to loosen your sauce with 4 to 5 tablespoons of cooking water.

As for the meat, pork is the traditional choice and works really well because of its fattiness. But unlike beef, it is not always easy to find ground pork at the supermarket. So I recommend asking your butcher directly if they can run pork shoulder or loin through the grinder, for example. Better yet, go to Tang Frères (an Asian supermarket in Paris, a real gold mine; take the opportunity to stock up on supplies for your Asian pantry)!

Get out your best wok (or skillet), because here you want a good réaction de Maillard, so really fry the pork in its own fat. A little tip: do not put too much meat in your wok at once or it will quickly drop in temperature and fill with the water released by the meat, preventing it from browning and producing something closer to boiled meat than anything else. Otherwise, simply cook it over high heat until the water evaporates, then let it brown untouched for one to two minutes before stirring vigorously (repeat the process 4 to 5 times for nice, even browning; it is a game of patience).

This dish is simple to make; everything comes down to balancing salt, bitterness and heat, so adjust this balance to your taste and that of your guests. But I insist on the importance of good prep (Mise en place in French): prepare your garlic, ginger and scallions ahead of time, then your sauce and toppings, and everything will go like clockwork!
You won’t be pressed for time when draining the noodles; everything will be within reach when you assemble your bowls.

Ingredients

  • 400 g ground pork
  • 2 tbsp of tahini (sesame paste)
  • 2 tbsp of peanut butter
  • 1 tbsp of Sichuan pepper
  • 2 tbsp of soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp of dark soy sauce *
  • 1 tbsp of sugar
  • 1 tbsp of black vinegar *
  • 2 tbsp of chili oil
  • 6 garlic cloves
  • 1 tbsp of fresh ginger
  • 1 bunch of scallions
  • 400 g of udon (a little more if fresh; less if dried)
  • 1 bunch of cilantro
  • 5 tbsp of roasted peanuts
  • 2 tbsp of toasted sesame oil
Ingredients for Dandan Noodles

* If you can't find black vinegar at an Asian grocery store, you can simply replace it with regular rice vinegar, and likewise replace dark soy sauce with light soy sauce (the regular kind)

Steps

  1. 1

    Mise en place - cut your garlic and ginger and run them through a microplane (or chop them very finely), cut your scallions, separating the green parts from the white parts, and chop the cilantro if you like it, and finally chop your peanuts with a knife (or crush them in a mortar). Toast your Sichuan pepper in your wok for 2 to 3 minutes, then grind it in a mill or crush it in a mortar.

  2. 2

    Take a bowl and mix the tahini (sesame paste), peanut butter, black vinegar, soy sauce and chili oil, one tablespoon of sugar, and half of the garlic, ginger and pepper.

  3. 3

    Now get out your wok (or skillet) and brown your ground pork, you want a good réaction de Maillard, so use high heat and don't stir too often to let the meat brown, add the remaining half of your garlic, ginger and pepper then deglaze with a little soy sauce and black vinegar. On one side add the white parts of the scallions and at the same time heat the water for the noodles. Let everything brown for 5 more minutes.

  4. 4

    Heat water for your noodles, follow the cooking time on the package, and just before draining them, scoop out 4 to 5 tablespoons of cooking water and stir it into the sauce to loosen it and dilute it a little.

  5. 5

    Put the sauce in your bowl, then the noodles, then the meat, and finish with your toppings (crushed peanuts, the green part of the scallions and your cilantro) and a drizzle of toasted sesame oil. Eat while the noodles and meat are hot (the sauce is cold, so don't wait)!

Inspiration & sources

After discovering this dish at Bises Nouilles (in Belleville, in the 19th arrondissement 🍴), which sparked a new obsession, these articles and videos helped satisfy my curiosity; go check them out!