Famous Szechuan style Dan dan noodles (担担面) is one of the most popular Chinese street foods. To me, it is one of the top Chinese noodles. But it is quite hard to define an authentic dan dan noodles. In Sichuan, it is crispy, spicy and numbing (caused by Sichuan peppercorns), with lots of variations in different restaurants. However, in other Sichuan restaurants outside this area, it might be crispy, slightly spicy and sweet. So I am not brave enough to call this an authentic dan dan noodle recipe, but it is the easiest way to put together a yummy and satisfying dan dan noodles.
History of Dan Dan Noodles
Dandan in the name actually refers to a carrying pole(扁担 in Chinese ). In the past, the vendors carried the noodles and the sauces to sell them on the street. When you order one bowl of dan dan noodles, the vender mix the noodle with the pre-pared sauce and top with the pork topping. With this traditional method, the authentic dan dan noodle cannot be soupy.
Important ingredients for dan dan noodles
With the traditional method, we serve dan dan noodles with fried soy beans or peas. They present the highest level of crispness. Usually we fry a larger batch each time. You can simply mix the remaining with salt and sugar, serving just as a snack. If you do not want to brother for frying, when you use crushed toast peanuts. Peanuts topping becomes a more popular option in recent days. Just roughly crushed.
Ya-cai(芽菜) is one of the three most important and famous preserved vegetables in Sichuan cuisine. The other two are pickled zha cai and black salted turnip. Making different types of pickled and preserved vegetables is one of the daily cooking tasks of housewives in Sichuan province. Traditionally, we will have a large jar for keeping this unique ingredient. However, only packaged bags are available in most of the market. Packed Ya cai tastes a little bit over salty to many because it is usually used as seasonings other than side ingredients. For example, in this Dan Dan noodles, after mixing with the noodle, the salty flavor will be reduced greatly. If you need to watch salt intake, you can soak the pickled vegetable in cold water for 10 minutes and then strain before using.
Sichuan red oil (四川红油) makes the noodle spicy and slightly numbing. Even if you cannot handle spicy food, at least ½ tablespoon of Sichuan red oil should be used in the mixed seasoning to compete the flavor. By the way, the red oil should be prepared at least 24 hours ago, so the capsaicin and red color can be well mixed with the oil.
Cook's Note
- The noodle is not over overwhelming hot. So don't add too much oil, otherwise the combined flour will be completely covered by hotness.
- If you need to watch salt intake, you can soak the pickled vegetable (Ya Cai) in cold water for 10 minutes and then strain before using.
- Please do not use large raman noodle bowls to serve dan dan noodles. Choose smaller ones and serve with a small amount of soup base (chicken stock or pork stock), so the noodles can be eaten up within minutes when the noodles are still hot and the pork topping are crispy.
- The noodle should be slightly soupy before mixing but gets a lo mein texture after mixing.
- I make a larger batch of topping this time, which can be further serving 9 bowls of dan dan noodles. You can save the leftover and use it for later noodles, soups or fried rice (Dan dan fried rice is fabulous).
Instructions
Mix all the seasonings for each serving in noodles bowls. Then mix well and let the sauce combine together.
Cook noodles in boiling water according to the instructions on the package and blanch vegetables in the last minutes when the noodles are almost ready. Transfer the noodles to the serving bowl.
Top with pork topping, chopped scallion and toasted peanuts. Pour around ½ cup hot pork stock or chicken stock along with the edges. Mix well before eating.
Other Sichuan recipes on the blog
Ingredients
- 3 servings fresh noodles , around 200g
- chopped scallion
- blanched vegetables
- Chicken stock or pork stock
- toasted peanuts , roughly crushed
Pork topping
- 400 g minced pork ,with some fat
- 2 tbsp. cooking oil
- 1 tsp. Sichuan peppercorn
- 1 star anise
- ½ tbsp. minced garlic
- ½ tbsp. Shaoxing cooking wine
- ½ tsp. sugar
- 1 cup ya-cai
- 1 tbsp. low sodium light soy sauce
Mixed Seasonings for each serving
- 1 tsp. sesame paste
- 1 tbsp. light soy sauce
- 1 tsp. sesame oil
- 1 tbsp. chili oil
- 1 tsp. black vinegar
- chopped scallion
- ¼ tsp. Sichuan peppercorn powder
Instructions
Make the pork topping
- Heat oil in wok and then fry star anise and Sichuan peppercorn with slowest fire until aromatic. Then remove the spices.
- Add minced pork and fry for several minutes until slightly browned. Drizzle cooking wine around the edges. Then place sugar and light soy sauce in.
- Add Ya cai in, continue frying for 3-5 minutes until dry and golden brown.
Cook noodles and serve
- Mix all the seasonings in serving bowls. Combine well.
- Cook noodles in boiling water according to the instructions on the package and blanch vegetables in the last minutes when the noodles are almost ready. Transfer the noodles to the serving bowl.
- Top with pork topping, chopped scallion and toasted peanuts. Pour around ½ cup hot pork stock or chicken stock along with the edges. Mix well before eating.
Video
Nutrition
Sye
Is this any similar to Xiao Mian noodles? If not, can you also provide the recipe for that?
Elaine
Hi Sye,
Chongqing Xiao Main has been my favorite noodle dish for years. This one is similar but not the same. I will try to make that version online as soon as possible.
CC
Hi. Good recipe. What do you mean by 'chili powder'? Can you give an example? Thanks.
Elaine
It is ground chili pepper.
Carole
I love this dish. The first time I made it, it was like this - https://labelledamesanssouci.wordpress.com/2015/11/12/dan-dan-mian-noodles/
But the second time was better, it was this recipe - https://labelledamesanssouci.wordpress.com/2016/12/14/fuchsia-dunlops-xie-laobans-dan-dan-mian/ - this is the one I usually cook now.
I will try yours too, because it looks delicious.
Elaine
Yours looks great, Carole!
Ed
I am researching and getting ingredients together to make this dish. I like to make my own pickled vegetables and so I would like to make my own Ya-Cai.
Is there a mustard green variety from the USA that would be comparable to the Sichuan version?
Is there any particular brine ingredients I should use for pickling?
Elaine
Hi,
Ya-cai is made from upper stems of mustard green. So it might be difficult to replace Sichuan style Ya-cai at home.
janet
Kitazawa Seeds offers a variety of asian mustard greens including those traditionally used to make yacai and zhacai if you want to make your own pickled greens/stems/roots. Of course, also delicious as fresh greens.
DS
Tried this recipe today. Left out yacai as I didn’t have it & used fillet instead of mince but otherwise followed your recipe. Was truly yummy. A big fan of Sichuan food
Elaine
Thanks for the feedback!
Nina W
This was so yummy!!! I couldn't find sesame paste so I used Japanese sesame salad dressing and it was great! I also took your tip on five spices but i did half that and half chili powder. Thank you!!!
Elaine
Thanks Nina. I am so glad that it worked fine for you.
Rosie
This was amazing, thank you again for sharing such a fantastic recipe Elaine 🙏 really glad I tracked down ya cai in a local Chinese supermarket too, it’s delicious!
Elaine
Thank you, Rosie. Ya cai is a magic ingredient and you can cook lots of delicious food with it. Happy cooking!
Sandy
Elaine - This was delicious - thank you for a winner of a recipe!
Elaine
Thanks for the feedback, Sandy. Glad to know you like it too.
Saskia
I made this for dinner tonight and it was so good 😋
Elaine
Thank you!
L
Hi Elaine,
Love your recipes, all the time. Thank you so much for posting and sharing with us!
I've made this a few times and it's delicious! I wanted to add that I buy the yacai you list on Amazon, and since it's very salty, it's best to rinse and drain first. Otherwise the final version is very salty!
L.
L
oh and if you're hungry you need a big bowl!
https://imgur.com/RwX32Gt
Elaine
L,
Thanks for the feedback!! You can slightly reduce the amount of salty ingredients used.