Recently, I was daydreaming (again) about Dan Dan Noodles and decided I should see if it’s doable at home, and hence the googling and some reading, I found an Authentic Asian recipe to follow. So here’s the more simplified noodle recipe you can try at home.
Dan Dan Noodles
Print RecipeIngredients
- Mince Ingredients
- 300 grams of minced beef
- 1/2 star anise
- Sprinkling cinnamon powder
- Sprinkling clove powder or 1 whole clove
- 150 grams of preserved vegetable chopped fine-ish
- 2 tablespoons of light soy sauce
- 1/2 tablespoon of dark soy sauce
- 1/4 teaspoon of sesame seed oil
- Sauce Ingredients
- 4 large garlic cloves, minced
- 2 teaspoons of Tahini
- 4 tablespoons of light soy sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon of Sichuan peppercorn ground in a pestle and mortar
- 1 teaspoon of sugar
- 1 tablespoon of rice wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar or skip both these kinds of vinegar and use 2 tablespoons of Chinese black vinegar
- 1 cup of hot chicken stock
- Topping Ingredients
- Spring onions, sliced for garnish
- Coriander/cilantro leaves, chopped finely for garnish
- 400 grams of fresh la mian
- A small handful of green leafy veggies, like spinach or bok choy
Instructions
- Add some oil into a medium saucepan over medium heat, depending on how fatty your mince is. Add in all the meat ingredients stirring to combine evenly. Let cook, occasionally stirring, until the meat caramelises and takes on a crispy-ish exterior, about 10 to 15 minutes.
- While the meat is cooking and caramelising and multiplying umami, ready your sauce.
- Combine all sauce ingredients, except stock, in a small bowl, and mix to distribute ingredients evenly. Dish out equally between 4 serving bowls that will hold your final dish. Set aside.
- Heat your stock, and bring a medium saucepan filled with water to a boil. Keep the stock on a simmer to remain hot, and blanch the green veggies for about 5 seconds in hot water. Use tongs to remove veggies from each serving bowl.
- Divide the stock between the bowls and mix with the other sauce ingredients. Now the water should be back to the boil again; add the noodles to the boiling water, according to packet instructions, to blanch briefly (I’d estimate about 2 to 4 minutes). Drain everything through a colander, and divide noodles equally between the bowls.
- Top with the mince. Garnish with chopped spring onion and cilantro.
