Dan Dan Noodles with Pork and Chili Oil
Wheat noodles buried under sesame broth and crumbled pork, tossed at the table so the noodles never sit long enough to bloat.
- Serves
- 4
- Prep
- 15 min
- Cook
- 15 min
- Written
Method
-
Toast the Sichuan peppercorns in a dry skillet over medium heat until fragrant and a shade darker, then grind to a coarse powder.
-
Heat the vegetable oil in a wok over high heat and brown the ground pork, breaking it into small crumbles, until deeply browned and crisp at the edges, about 6 minutes.
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Add the garlic, ginger, and preserved mustard greens, and stir-fry until the garlic turns golden and smells toasted.
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Stir in the soy sauce and black vinegar, then pull the pan off the heat.
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Whisk the sesame paste into the hot chicken stock in the bottom of each serving bowl until smooth, then spoon in the ground Sichuan peppercorns and chili oil.
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Boil the noodles until just tender, about 3 minutes, then lift them straight into the bowls with tongs.
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Top with the pork, scallions, and peanuts, and toss at the table before the first bite.
Notes
The sauce sits under the noodles, not mixed into the pan — that’s the whole trick. Toss it in the wok and it reduces into something gluey by the time it reaches the table; build it in the bowl instead and it stays loose enough to coat every strand when you stir it in front of whoever’s eating it.
No sesame paste, natural peanut butter works, though the dish loses some of its bitter edge. Ground pork can swap for finely chopped shiitake for a vegetarian version — brown them the same way, hard and a few minutes longer, since mushrooms hold more water than fat.