Pasta · Recipe · Sichuan · Reference page

Dan dan noodles

Name: Dan dan noodles
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 35 min
Yield: 2
Ingredients: 100 g coarsely minced pork (ideally about 30% fat); 0.25 tsp salt; 0.5 tsp sugar; 0.25 tsp dark soy sauce; 0.5 tsp cornflour; 0.5 tsp toasted sesame oil; 2 tbsp Shaoxing wine, plus ½ tsp for the marinade; 1 tbsp neutral oil; 2 piece dried chillies; 1 tsp Sichuan peppercorns; 3 tbsp suimi yacai (Yibin preserved mustard greens), chopped; 50 ml chicken stock; 1 tsp light soy sauce (optional); 2 tbsp Chinese sesame paste; 3 tbsp light soy sauce; 1 tbsp Chinkiang black vinegar; 0.5 tsp sugar; 2 tbsp chilli oil with its sediment (2–4 tbsp); 0.25 tsp ground toasted Sichuan pepper; 300 g fresh Chinese wheat noodles (yang chun mian or jia chang mian); 2 piece spring onions, thinly sliced; 1 tbsp toasted white sesame seeds

担担面

Fresh wheat noodles over a sauce of Chinese sesame paste, soy, black vinegar, chilli oil and ground Sichuan pepper, topped with crisp marinated pork and Yibin preserved mustard greens. Chui Lee Luk's recipe for SBS Food's The Cook Up serves two.

Editorial illustration of the documented recipe; not a photograph of a kitchen-tested result.

Servings: 2
Preparation: 15 min
Cooking: 10 min
Resting: 10 min
Total: 35 min
Difficulty: Easy

Equipment

Wok or non-stick frying pan; slotted spoon
Saucepan for the noodles
Two serving bowls

To drink & serve with

The source suggests serving the noodles with a salad or vegetable dish to round out the meal.

Substitutions

Suimi yacai → Sold in Chinese supermarkets; if you cannot find it, leave it out rather than substitute.
Chinese sesame paste → None: the source says tahini, made from raw sesame, is not suitable.

Common mistakes

Wet noodles: drain them well or they dilute the sauce.
Burning the Sichuan peppercorns: they turn bitter. Take them out as soon as the oil smells.

Storage & reheating

Eat at once. The cooked pork keeps 2 days in the fridge.

Safety

Allergens: gluten (noodles, soy sauce, vinegar), soy, sesame, sulphites (Shaoxing wine and preserved vegetables may contain them; check labels).

Allergens

Gluten · Soy · Sesame · Sulphites

Check labels: stock, bacon and sauces can contain further allergens.

A Sichuan street noodle

Dan dan noodles belong to Sichuan. This version, by chef Chui Lee Luk for SBS Food's The Cook Up with Adam Liaw, uses suimi yacai, the preserved mustard greens of Yibin, and Chinese sesame paste; the recipe states that tahini is not a substitute. The atlas has not yet opened a documented history of the dish's name or street-vendor origins.

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Sauce in the bowl

The sauce is mixed cold in the bowl: sesame paste, light soy, black vinegar, sugar, chilli oil with its sediment and ground toasted Sichuan pepper. The noodles go on top, then pork that has been marinated and fried crisp with the mustard greens in oil scented with chilli and Sichuan pepper. Everything is mixed at the table.

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How it connects

Place

origin Sichuan In preparation

Dan dan noodles

Equipment

Ingredients

Pork

Stir-fry

Sesame sauce

Noodles

Method