Sichuan (Szechuan) Dan Dan Noodles Recipe

[YiReservation]

For those of you frequent Sichuan (Szechuan) eateries, you probably know that Dan Dan Noodles is arguably one of the must-try dishes at any Sichuan restaurants. In fact it’s so popular that this spicy, sweet, and tangy noodle dish has often used to measure how authentic a restaurant is!

This is a recipe I learned from growing up in Sichuan and imho it's so much better than the restaurant version. If you like to learn with pictures please check out my blog for step-by-step pictorial recipe!

Ingredients:

6oz fresh Chinese noodles (can substitute with dry noodles)
Handful of fresh leafy vegetables such as spinach

Dan Dan Meat Topping:
4oz ground pork
4oz [ya cai (preserved mustard green from Sichuan), chopped
2tbsp soy sauce
1tbsp Chinese cooking wine
1tsp five spice powder

Dan Dan Sauce:
2tsp garlic, grated
2tsp Chinese sesame paste
4tbsp soy sauce
1tsp Sichuan peppercorn powder
1tsp sugar
4tbsp chili oil (more if you can handle the heat)
1tsp sesame oil
2tbsp Chinese black vinegar
1cup hot chicken or pork stock, unsalted (can substitute with boiled water)
Chopped scallions for garnish

Instructions:

To make the meat topping: sauté ground pork and ya cai in 1 tbsp of cooking oil over high heat. When the meat turns color, add soy sauce, cooking wine, and five spice powder. Cook for another 3 minutes. Set aside

To build the Dan Dan Noodle sauce: combine the garlic and sesame paste in a bowl. Mix using a spoon until smooth

Add the rest of the sauce ingredients except the scallions. Stir until well incorporated

While building the sauce, cook the noodles in a pot of boiling water until al dente. If using fresh noodles, it should take about 3 – 4 minutes

Cook the vegetable in the same pot. To get the best noodle texture, shock the noodles in ice water right after cooking to stop the noodles from cooking

Drain the excess water and drop the noodles into the sauce. Add the meat topping and garnish with scallions. Feel free to add additional chili oil according to your own taste