Dan Dan Noodles

Dan Dan Noodles
My take on the deliciously creamy, spicy, salty, tangy Dan Dan Noodles. The only ingredient you can't get from Woolies/Coles in this recipe are the Sichuan peppercorns, which you can find at any Chinese and many Asian supermarkets. I keep mine in an old pepper grinder that I don't use to make for easy grinding. If you don't want to go out of your way for the Sichuan, you can use white pepper instead. These come together in 20 minutes and are ridiculously delicious, I promise if the adjectives I've listed in my first sentence are up your alley there's no way you won't like them.

Ingredients

For the sauce:

  • 1 tsp Sichuan peppercorns, ground (or white pepper)
  • ¼ cup light soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp (or to taste) chilli oil
  • 1 large garlic clove (or 2 small), finely grated
  • 2 tbsp tahini
  • 1 tbsp smooth peanut butter
  • ½ cup water (warm water makes it easier to mix in your tahini and peanut butter)

For the pork:

  • 500g ground pork
  • 1 tsp table salt
  • ½ tsp cracked black pepper
  • 3 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 tbsp fresh ginger, finely grated
  • 2 tbsp light soy sauce
  • 2 tbsp Chinese cooking wine
  • 1 tsp Chinese five spice powder
  • 1 tsp sugar

For the rest:

  • 400g udon
  • 100g pea shoots, cut into 10cm lengths
  • 4 spring onions, thinly sliced

Method

  1. Add all the sauce ingredients to a bowl and mix to combine using a whisk, until smooth.
  2. Season pork with salt and pepper and gently shape into small patty like rounds.
  3. Heat vegetable oil over medium-high heat.
  4. Fry off pork until golden brown on each side (approximately 2 minutes each).
  5. Add ginger, soy sauce, cooking wine, five spice powder and sugar and simmer until the sauce thickens, meanwhile breaking up the pork with a wooden spoon or potato masher.
  6. Cook noodles according to packet instructions in boiling water, adding in pea shoots in the last minute to quickly blanch.
  7. Strain noodles and pea shoots, running under cold water to cool down and stop the cooking process.
  8. Serve in bowls by layering the elements with a generous ladle of sauce on the bottom, topped with noodles, then pork, and finished with spring onions.
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