Dan Dan Noodles

This is a 3 part recipe

1. Noodles
2. Sauce
3. Pork Topping and Vegetable

This recipe will guide you to make noodles from scratch. Alternatively you can buy noodles. If you choose to buy noodles skip to this part of the recipe.

Ingredients on how to make noodles from scratch

• 2 2/3 cup all-purpose flour 
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 220 ml  water , room temperature
• Vegetable oil to coat the dough

Instructions on how to make noodles by hand

Combine the water and salt in a small bowl. Stir to dissolve the salt.

Add the flour into a large bowl. Bit by bit, pour the water into the flour, mixing with a pair of chopsticks or a spatula as you go.

Once all the water is added, the dough should be in shaggy threads with little/no dry flour in the bowl. Begin pressing the dough together. If you find the dough is too dry and there’s still dry flour that’s hard to incorporate into the dough, drizzle more water onto the dry flour and mix it again, until there’s no dry flour left. Knead the dough until a rough, firm ball is formed, about 2 minutes.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it rest for 20 minutes.

Once the dough is rested, knead it again until it becomes smooth, 1 to 2 minutes.

Part 2 – Shape your noodles and Rest

Cut the dough into 8 pieces. Roll each piece into approximately 3” x 5” (8×13 cm) ovals, 1/4” (1/2 cm) high.

Coat the dough(s) generously with oil and cover with plastic. Let rest for 2 hours.

Part 3 – Pull and Cook your noodles

First, you need to cut the dough according to the width of the noodles you want to make.

Pull the dough into a thin strip with one motion, and keep pulling and bouncing on the table into a thin shape

Drop the noodles, a few pieces at a time, into the boiling water and cook for 1 to 1.5 minutes, until tender but still with a chewy texture.

Do not cook too many noodles at a time! It’s hard to control the texture that way and the noodles might stick together.

Ingredients for the Sauce

• 1/3 cup Chinese sesame paste or natural peanut butter (see photo). Do not use Tahini.
• 1/3 cup light soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons sugar (can substitute with honey)
• 1/4 teaspoon five-spice powder
• 2 green onion, minced
• 1/2 cup of chilli oil (optional)
• 2 cloves garlic  minced
• ¼ cup Chinkiang Vinegar
• Sichuan peppercorns (optional)

Instructions on how to make sauce

Whisk the sesame paste and light soy sauce together in a bowl. Add the Chinkiang vinegar. Continue stirring until mixed. Then mix in the garlic, green onion, honey, and Sichuan peppercorns.

Ingredients for Pork Toppings

• 3 teaspoons oil
• 1 pound ground pork 
• 2 tablespoon black bean sauce or hoisin sauce
• 1 tablespoon minced ginger
• 2 green onions chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 2 tablespoons shaoxing wine
• 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon five spice powder
• 1/3 cup sui mi ya cai (optional) or any vegetable (Bak Choy)

Instructions for cooking the pork topping

• Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Add the pork. Cook and stir until the surface is lightly browned.

• Turn to medium heat. Add the ginger, green onion, fermented black beans, cooking wine, and sugar and five spice powder. Cook and chop the pork into small pieces, until all the liquid has evaporated and the pork turns a dark brown color. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.

• Blanch your vegetable for 1 min and set aside.

Instructions to assemble the sauce, pork toppings, and noodles

For each noodle bowl, add 1/4 cup of noodle sauce. Add the chili oil according to your taste. Add some noodles, then top with a few spoonfuls of the cooked pork and green veggies. Garnish with peanut crumbles and chopped green onion. Sprinkle with a pinch of toasted ground Sichuan peppercorn.