Dan Dan Noodles – the iconic spicy Sichuan noodles, a flavour explosion with slippery noodles tossed in an intense spicy sesame sauce and pork. You’ll need to visit an Asian grocery store but once you’ve got what you need, it’s a cinch to make! (Plus, I’ve provided loads of substitution options.)
Dan Dan Noodles
The beautiful Northern Beaches area of Sydney in which I live is many things….but certainly not known for great authentic Sichuan food!!!
And given that Dan Dan Noodles is literally one of my all time top 3 foods, it was essential that I arm myself with a totally doable home version that is everything you want in a bowl of slippery, spicy noodles laced with the sesame flavoured Dan Dan Noodle Sauce, wafting with the scent of Chinese five spice.
With the signature slick of fiery red chilli sauce on the surface, it actually looks more fierce than it is. I’m one of those people who likes to think they can handle really spicy food – but actually, I can’t at all. So while the recipe provided has a good kick to it (I wouldn’t serve it to a toddler 😂), it is not blow-your-head-off spicy!
Usually I’d start with a visual of the ingredients, but in this case I think it’s better to give you an overview of how it’s assembled so you can see the different components of Dan Dan Noodles.
How to make Dan Dan Noodles
Unlike most noodles, such asLo Mein and Chow Meinnoodles, Dan Dan Noodles aren’t tossed together with sauce, vegetables and proteins. Instead, it’s served layered for a DIY toss situation, as follows:
Dan Dan Sauce in first – the savoury, Five Spiced sesame sauce with a slick of the signature chilli oil that you know and love about spicy Sichuan noodles!
Noodles next – but don’t mix it through;
Toppings – stir fried pork, preserved mustard greens (Sui Mi Ya Cai), choi sum and green onions;
Peanuts – finish with a sprinkle of chopped nuts;
Serve it just like that, with the sauce pooled at the bottom; then
To eat, you toss it all together so the white noodles become stained red with the spicy sauce, then devour!
What goes in Dan Dan Noodles
Here’s an overview of what you need and how to make each component for these spicy Sichuan noodles.
1. Dan Dan Noodles Sauce
Here’s what goes in the sauce – it’s not cooked, it’s just mixed up in a bowl.
Chinese Five Spice Powder is a spice mix of (don’t fall of your chair!) five different spices. It’s a common spice blend sold at grocery stores (🇦🇺Woolies, Coles);
Sichuan Pepper is the pepper that’s used in Sichuan cooking and other iconic Chinese dishes such as Kung Pao Chicken. It has a spiciness that isnumbing rather than the usual fiery heat, and a slight lemony flavour. Available at Asian stores and some grocery stores with speciality spices (eg 🇦🇺Harris Farms), it’s best to freshly grind your own if you can but for convenience, just use pre ground.Substitute with white pepper.
Chilli Oil – Bright red in colour, and as spicy as it looks! You’ll find Chinese chilli oil in any Asian grocery store, otherwise, any chilli oil will do just fine.Substitute 1 part sriracha to 2 parts oil.
Chinese Chilli paste in oil – My favourite is Fuyun Xiang La Wang (chilli sauce) which is sold at most Chinese grocers. Substituteany Asian chilli paste (preferably in oil), a plain chilli paste, sambal oelek, and add an extra glug of chilli oil;
Chicken stock/broth – though I say this sauce is not cooked, this is heated up until hot and this heats up the sauce;
Chinese Sesame Sauce or paste(pictured below) – a key ingredient for the sauce flavour. It’s made from ground sesame and is like tahini (used in Hummus) but has a more intense sesame flavour, and it’s darker. Sold at Asian stores,substitute with tahini.Also used in Creamy Sichuan Sesame Sauce for Lettuce Salad.
2. Pork Toppings and Pickled Mustard Greens (Sui Mi Ya Cai)
Dan Dan Noodles are topped with pork mince and pickled mustard greens (called Sui Mi Ya Cai):
The making part is literally a less than 5 minute effort – just cook the pork, add the Chinese five spice flavoured sauce. Transfer to a bowl then just heat the pickled mustard greens (more on this below).
3. Sui Mi Ya Cai – Sichuan Preserved Mustard Greens
Firstly, don’t fret if you can’t find this, it’s not a make-or-break ingredient. Recipe only uses a sprinkle that’s added at the end when assembling the dish.
This is a signature ingredient used in Dan Dan Noodles. It’sChinese pickled mustard greens (a type of green vegetable) that comes from the Sichuan region of China. It has the texture and saltiness of kimchi, but it’s not spicy. So that’s the best substitute – kimchi!
We’re almost there! Here’s the last part.
4. Noodles, Chinese Greens and Garnishes
Noodles – just any medium thickness, white Asian noodles. Not rice noodles, wheat noodles (check the ingredients list if you can’t read the packet 🙋🏻♀️). White is best for the most striking contrast of colour – the red chilli oil against the white noodles. However, any noodles will do just fine here, even noodle cakes (like ramen packs). Just prepare per packet;
Choi Sum – or other Chinese greens, briefly blanched; and
Garnishes –peanuts and green onion.
Cook the noodles first, then blanch the choi sum in the same water (just add it into the same pot and drain together for simplicity).
Then layer it all up – sauce in first, noodles next, then all the toppings.
Then mix it all up and devour!!
I know it’s a looooong post, with lots of ingredients visuals and breaking down the components. But don’t fret! Once you’ve gathered all the ingredients, the making part is straight forward.
You also don’t need to rush and worry about cooking all the components so they’re piping hot when you put it together. The sauce and pork and be lukewarm because it gets heated through when you toss the hot noodles through. It’s the Dan Dan way! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Dan Dan Noodles
Author: Nagi
Prep: 15 minutes mins
Cook: 15 minutes mins
Mains
American Chinese, Sichuan, Szechuan
4.98 from 48 votes
Servings4
Tap or hover to scale
Recipe video above. The iconic spicy Sichuan Dan Dan Noodles, made at home! Am intensely flavoured spicy sesame chilli oil sauce tossed with noodles and pork. Don't be daunted by the list and steps, there's no need to rush. Cook and prepare all the parts except the noodles. Cook the noodles just before serving so they're piping hot because the idea is to toss hot noodles with the pork and sauce so the heat warms everything else up. That's the Dan Dan way!
Ingredients
Dan Dan Sauce:
- 2 tbsp Chinese sesame paste (sub tahini, Note 1)
- 1.5 tbsp Chinese chilli paste in oil , adjust spiciness (Note 2)
- 4 tbsp light soy sauce (Note 3)
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 3 tsp white sugar
- 1/2 tsp Chinese five spice powder (Note 4)
- 1 tsp Sichuan pepper powder , preferably freshly ground (Note 5)
- 3 tbsp (or more!) chilli oil , preferably Chinese (Note 6)
- 3/4 cup (185ml) chicken broth/stock , hot, low sodium
Pork topping:
- 2 tsp Hoisin sauce
- 1 tsp dark soy sauce (Note 7)
- 1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine (sub 2 tbsp extra chicken stock)
- 1/2 tsp Chinese five spice powder (Note 4)
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 250g/ 8oz pork mince (ground pork)
Sui mi ya cai (preserved mustard greens):
- 1 tsp vegetable oil
- 30g (1/4 cup) Sui Mi Ya Cai (preserved mustard greens) , finely chopped (Note 8)
To serve:
- 500g/1lb white fresh noodles , medium thickness (Note 9)
- 16 choy sum stems , cut into 15cm pieces
- 2 green onions , finely sliced
- 1 tbsp peanuts , finely chopped (optional)
Instructions
Dan Dan Sauce:
Mix all ingredients except oil and chicken stock. Then gently stir in oil and stock – oil should be sitting on surface. Set aside.
Pork:
Mix together hoisin, soy, Chinese wine and five spice (“Sauce”).
Heat oil in a skillet or wok over high heat. Add pork and cook, breaking it up as you, until it changes from pink to white. Add Sauce and cook for 1 minute, then transfer into a bowl.
Sui mi ya cai (preserved mustard greens):
Return skillet to stove, reduce to medium heat. Add oil into middle of skillet.
Add Sui mi ya cai and stir for 30 seconds, just to warm through. Set aside.
Noodles & choi sum:
Bring a large pot of water to the boil. Cook noodles per packet directions.
Add choi sum for last 1 minute of cooking.
Drain.
Assemble:
Ladle 1/4 of Dan Dan Sauce into a bowl. Pile in noodles, top with pork and Sui mi ya cai. Place choi sum on side.
Sprinkle with peanuts and green onions and serve.
To eat, mix it all up to coat the noodles well with Sauce, then devour!
Recipe Notes:
1. Chinese Sesame Paste – sold in Asian stores, consistency like thick honey, tastes like tahini(ie used in Hummus) but more intense flavour and slightly darker colour.
Chinese Sesame PASTE is better than Sesame SAUCE as sauce is not as intense flavoured and not as thick. Dan Dan Noodles sauce is supposed to have a good sesame kick to it! Only got Sesame Sauce? Double the sesame in the recipe (yes, really).
Sub 3 tbsp tahini and add 2 tsp toasted sesame oil. Last resort, use 3 tbsp peanut butter (yes, seriously!) plus 2 tsp toasted sesame oil.
2. Chinese Chilli paste in oil – My favourite is Fuyun Xiang La Wang (chilli sauce) which is sold at most Chinese grocers. Use leftovers to add chilli kick to anything Asian, or for dipping sauces for things like Potstickers / Gyoza.Substituteany Asian chilli paste (preferably in oil), a plain chilli paste, sambal oelek, and add an extra glug of chilli oil.
3. Light soy sauce –bottle will be labelled as such. Can sub with all purpose soy sauce, do not sub with dark soy sauce (too strong flavour).
4. Chinese Five Spice Powder is a spice mix of (don’t fall of your chair!) five different spices. It’s a common spice blend sold at grocery stores (🇦🇺 Woolies, Coles).
5. Sichuan Pepper– spiciness isnumbing rather than the usual fiery heat of chilli, and a slight lemony flavour, common in Sichuan foods (eg Kung Pao Chicken). Available at Asian stores and some grocery stores with speciality spices (eg. 🇦🇺 Harris Farms), it’s best to lightly toast in dry skillet then freshly grind your own if you can but for convenience, just use pre ground (I do this mostly). Substitute with white pepper.
6. Chilli Oil – Bright red in colour, and as spicy as it looks! You’ll find Chinese chilli oil in any Asian grocery store, otherwise, any chilli oil will do just fine. Restaurants use a LOT more oil than I do so feel free to up the quantity!Substitute 1 part sriracha to 2 parts oil.
7. Sui Mi Ya Cai (preserved mustard greens) – find in Asian stores (is cheap ~$1.30),best sub is finely chopped kimchi.Don’t fret if you can’t find this, recipe only uses a sprinkle.It’sChinese pickled mustard greens (a type of green vegetable) from Sichuan. Texture and saltiness is like kimchi.
8. Dark soy sauce – stains sauces a darker colour and has more intense soy flavour. Bottle will be labelled as such if it’s Dark Soy Sauce. Sub 2 tsp normal or light soy sauce – pork will not be as brown.
9. Noodles – best to use fresh noodles (fridge section), white medium thickness ie 3mm / 1/8″ thick. If using dried, use 300g/10oz white noodles made with wheat and prepare per packet. White noodles is traditional (looks terrific against red sauce), but otherwise use any noodles you can (500g/1lb fresh or 300g/10oz dried).
10. GENERAL NOTES
- Recipe as written is spicy but not blow-your-head-off spicy
- Reduce spiciness by using less chilli paste, Sichuan pepper and lastly, less chili oil (the oil is a key part of Dan Dan Noodles – look, mouthfeel and flavour)
- Pork amount is small – not supposed to be meat loaded, just a sprinkling. Can double pork (click Servings and slide to scale)
- Can add more steamed Asian greens to make complete meal
11.This recipe first appeared on www.goodfood.com.au where I contribute recipes monthly. Reprinted on my own website with permission!
Recipes referenced in coming up with this recipe include: China Sichuan Foodand as always, the wonderful family at The Woks of Life to whom I credit much of my learnings of truly authentic Chinese food. I am a devoted fan girl.
12. Nutrition per serving.
Nutrition Information:
Calories: 604cal (30%)Carbohydrates: 56g (19%)Protein: 21g (42%)Fat: 34g (52%)Saturated Fat: 10g (63%)Cholesterol: 41mg (14%)Sodium: 1364mg (59%)Potassium: 333mg (10%)Fiber: 2g (8%)Sugar: 5g (6%)Vitamin A: 460IU (9%)Vitamin C: 8mg (10%)Calcium: 48mg (5%)Iron: 2mg (11%)
Keywords: Dan Dan Noodles, Sichuan food, Sichuan noodles, Spicy noodles
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Plant shopping!
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