Dan Dan Noodle

A traditional Sichuanese noodle dish that used to be a common street food acording to Wiki. Dan Dan Noodles are named after the bamboo shoulder pole (dan) that the street vendors used to carry their stoves, noodles, and secret sauces. There's no one original "dan dan noodles," and below is my version of it.

Ingredients:

1 lb dried wheat noodle

1 1/2 lb lean pork, minced/ground pork

1/2 tbsp ginger, minced

2 tbsp garlic, chopped

2 tbsp chopped sichuan char choy

3 tbsp light soy sauce

1/2 tbsp dark soy sauce (optional)

3 tbsp broad bean spicy sauce

1 tsp sichuan peppercorn

salt & pepper

cornstarch solution (1 tbsp cornflour + 3 tbsp water)-optional

Garnishes

Sichuan peppercorn oil

Sichuan red chili oil

spring onions, cut fine

Julienned Cucumber

Method:

1. Heat 4 tbsp vegetable oil in wok, then add the Sichuan peppercorns and fry till fragrant, about 1 min. Discard the peppercorns, leaving the oil in the wok. Add the pork, char choy, ginger and garlic and fry, breaking up the meat. Add the soy sauce, bean paste, salt and pepper to taste.

2. Liquid will come out from the meat. Continue frying under medium heat until all the liquid dries up. Add the cornstarch solution if you like the meat topping to be moist.

2. Bring a large pot of water to the boil. Drop 1/2 the noodles in, and quickly stir with chopsticks to separate the strands. When it boils again, stir it for 30 seconds and add in a cup of cold water, when the water comes back to the boil, stir and remove the noodles and dunk in cold water , to stop the cooking.

Bring the water back into a boil and repeat with the other half of the noodles.

To assemble:

Put cold noodles into a bowl and nuke in the microwave for 1 minute.

Top with some meat and the garnishes.

Enjoy

Serves