Dan Dan Noodles
A sauce built in the bottom of the bowl — sesame paste, chilli oil, black vinegar — with hot noodles dropped straight onto it and tossed at the table.
- Prep
- 15m
- Cook
- 15m
- Total
- 30m
- Serves
- 2
- Effort
- Moderate
Method
Tap a step number to mark it done. Tap an ingredient once for got it, twice for need it.
| 100 ml | Pour hot oil over the aromatics to make chilli oil 8m Oil at 160°C. Any hotter and the chilli burns black in seconds. | Build the sauce in the bottom of two bowls 5m Loosen the sesame paste with the noodle water first or it seizes into a lump. | Pile the noodles on the sauce and top with the crumble 2m Do not stir in the kitchen. Carry it to the table layered and toss there. | |
| 3 tbsp | ||||
| 1 tsp | ||||
| 1 | ||||
| 1 | ||||
| 3 tbsp | ||||
| 2 tbsp | ||||
| 1 tbsp | ||||
| 1 tsp | ||||
| 2 cloves | ||||
| 4 tbsp | ||||
| 200 g | Fry the mushrooms and preserved greens to a dark crumble 10m Keep going past the point it looks done. You want crisp edges, not stew. | |||
| 3 tbsp | ||||
| 1 tbsp | ||||
| 1 tbsp | ||||
| 2 tsp | ||||
| 1/4 tsp | ||||
| 300 g | Boil the noodles and lift them out dripping 4m Save a mugful of the water before you drain — the sauce needs it. | |||
| 2 | ||||
| 3 tbsp | ||||
-
Pour hot oil over the aromatics to make chilli oil
8m- neutral oil 100 ml
- coarse Sichuan chilli flakes 3 tbsp
- Sichuan peppercorns 1 tsp
- star anise 1
- bay leaf 1
Oil at 160°C. Any hotter and the chilli burns black in seconds.
-
Build the sauce in the bottom of two bowls
5m- from 1 Pour hot oil over the aromatics to make chilli oil
- Chinese sesame paste 3 tbsp
- light soy sauce 2 tbsp
- Chinkiang black vinegar 1 tbsp
- sugar 1 tsp
- garlic 2 cloves
- hot noodle cooking water 4 tbsp
Loosen the sesame paste with the noodle water first or it seizes into a lump.
-
Fry the mushrooms and preserved greens to a dark crumble
10m- shiitake mushrooms 200 g
- ya cai 3 tbsp
- neutral oil 1 tbsp
- Shaoxing wine 1 tbsp
- dark soy sauce 2 tsp
- five-spice 1/4 tsp
Keep going past the point it looks done. You want crisp edges, not stew.
-
Boil the noodles and lift them out dripping
4m- fresh thin wheat noodles 300 g
Save a mugful of the water before you drain — the sauce needs it.
-
Pile the noodles on the sauce and top with the crumble
2m- from 2 Build the sauce in the bottom of two bowls
- from 3 Fry the mushrooms and preserved greens to a dark crumble
- from 4 Boil the noodles and lift them out dripping
- spring onions 2
- roasted peanuts 3 tbsp
Do not stir in the kitchen. Carry it to the table layered and toss there.
Why there is no soup
Dan dan is a dressed noodle, not a noodle soup — the four spoonfuls of starchy cooking water at the base are the whole liquid budget. That starch is what lets sesame paste and chilli oil emulsify instead of separating into a greasy slick, and it is why the sauce grips the noodles rather than pooling. Sesame paste is also stiff and hydrophobic straight from the jar; slackening it with hot water before anything else joins is the difference between a smooth sauce and gritty clumps.
Notes
- The classic crumble is minced pork fried until dark and crisp. Mushrooms browned the same way, plus the ya cai, carry the savoury depth.
- Ya cai is worth seeking out. Without it use finely chopped preserved radish or a spoonful of drained sauerkraut, squeezed hard.
- Make double the chilli oil. It keeps a month in the fridge and improves.