Dan Dan Mian

Dan Dan Mian is a classic Szechuan dish with spicy, slightly sweet and sour meat sauce and (usually) wheat-based noodles. The sauce is very aromatic because of the use of ground Szechuan peppercorns, toasted sesame seeds and flavoursome Szechuan hot bean-sauce.

I was inspired to make this dish after I browsed my Chinese Rice and Noodles cookbook from Wei-Chuan cooking school, which is full of beautiful and tasty pictures and easy-to-follow recipes. But I of course added more ingredients here and there, it's just not me if I didn't do so ;).

I ground some toasted sesame seeds to give the noodles some nutty flavour. Some people even use peanut butter. I didn't have chili oil available, so I made my own chili paste by mixing some sesame oil with paprika powder.

Dan Dan Mian Serves 2
400 g Udon	460
200 g ground pork	411
70 g mushrooms (optional)	15
1 tbs sesame oil	105?
1 clove garlic, minced	4
1 tbs ground ginger	19
2 tbs Szechuan hot bean-sauce (or to taste)	50?
1 tsp paprika powder (mixed with 2 tbs sesame oil)	230?
2 tbs soy sauce	20
2 tbs Shao Xing wine	25 ?
1 tbs Chinkiang vinegar	?
½ tbs sugar	16
1 tsp Szechuan peppercorns (toasted & ground)	?
1 tsp sesame seeds (toasted & ground)	51
50 g cucumber, julienned	8
½ cup green onions, julienned	14
TOTAL	1428 calories
	714 calories per serving

What to do:

• Heat 1 tbs oil in a wok over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add garlic, ginger, ground Szechuan peppercorns and ground sesame seeds. Sauté until fragrant.
  
• Add the pork and mushrooms. Cook and stir until the pork is slightly brown.
• Add Shao Xing wine, paprika+sesame oil mixture, Szechuan hot bean sauce, Chinkiang vinegar, soy sauce and sugar. Simmer for 3 minutes. set aside.
  
• Place the (cooked) udon noodles in a bowl and pour some of the meat sauce onto them.
• Garnish with sliced cucumbers, green onions and chopped chili peppers.
  

Mix everything together! Add chili oil to your noodles if you want, or even toasted peanuts. The Dan Dan Mian tasted fabulous! Give it a try!

By the way, if you've read my previous post, you know that I was a contestant for Battle Sandwich hosted by DoggyBloggy. Unfortunately I didn't win, I guess this time the God of Luck simply didn't shine upon me ;)! However, I would like to thank all my dear readers who have supported me with their kind comments! If you want, you can check out all the creative creations from the other contestants here.