It was cold, depressing and raining as I stumbled on a lovely place that served the right `Dan- dan noodle' this afternoon. Needless to say, I came back satiated and very happy with the discovery indeed..
Dan - dan noodle -- so called because they were sold in pots braced on bamboo poles by noodle vendors-- are a popular street food from the Sichuan province of China.
Whatever the provenance, a bowl of this yummy, spicy, peanut and sesame laden delicacy is very easily replicated at home and takes a breeze to stir up.
Here is my approximation of the recipe, tailored to suit my vegetarian taste buds. The same can be tweaked to other palates quite successfully too..
here goes.
Dan-Dan Mein
Serves 2
Ingredients
egg noodles 1 small packet
peanut oil
2 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp Tahini or hulled sesame seeds
1 tbsp peanut butter
1 tbsp roasted peanuts coarsley crushed
1 tbsp roasted sesame seeds
1 cup vegetable stock
2 tsp spring onions finely chopped
1 bunch of corriander leaves or cilantro
1 tbsp red chilli flakes
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp vinegar
juice of half a lime
salt to taste
Boil the egg noodles until done, drain and set aside.
In a bowl mix together into a runny paste the tahini, peanut butter, 2 tsp soysauce, 2 tsp vinegar, salt and a sprinkling of chilli flakes. Toss the noodles with the paste and set aside. Heat the vegetable stock, add the rest of the soy sauce and lime juice.
To serve, place a little bit of the noodles in 2 bowls, pour a little vegetable stock on to the noodles, ( vary the amount of stock as per preference, I like the noodles semi -dry, so the stock covers just the base of the bowl.) Top with generous sprinkling of cushed peanuts and roasted sesame seeds, add as much chilli flakes as you can take, garnish with chopped spring onions and cilantro, drizzle a teaspoon of sesame oil on top and dig in!!!
Until I upload my own, the photo is courtesy elegantsufficiency.typepad.com/.../ noodles.jpg.