Dan Dan Noodles Recipe

Stir-fried ground pork with spicy noodles in a fiery Sichuan chilli and peanut butter sauce. 

Quick, easy to make, also known as Dan Dan Mian.

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*Post updated November 2024

As there are hundreds of different recipes out there, how do you know which one to try? 😐

So, the experiment began!

Once I'd made Dan Dan Noodles for the very first time, we've been hooked ever since!

Sesame paste and/or peanut butter are sometimes added and occasionally replace the spicy sauce, usually in the American Chinese style of this dish.

But apparently, in American Chinese cuisine, Dan Dan Mian is often sweeter, less spicy, and less soupy than its Sichuan counterpart.

A nice tingly heat of the Szechuan peppercorns, although you can use as much or as little of them as you fancy.

Equipment

If you don't already have one, you will need to buy a wok - you'll find them on  Amazon or in any good cookshop or supermarket.

It's probably worth spending a bit of money on a half-decent one as a cheap one won't last.

Sichuan Peppercorns

Used in Sichuan cooking and other popular Chinese dishes such as Kung Pao Chicken. Oh and Mapo Tofu. Both have a tongue-numbing, lip-tingling spiciness rather than the usual fiery heat that is quite addictive! 😉

Don't be put off by what looks like a long list of ingredients, this is so worth making and most of the ingredients you probably already have in your store cupboard.

Ingredients

• Lean pork mince (ground pork) (5% fat)

• Vegetable oil

• Dark soy sauce

• Light soy sauce

• Shaoxing (Chinese rice wine)

• Onion 

• Garlic 

• Fresh ginger

• Peanut butter

• Chilli oil

• Sesame oil

• Chilli sauce 

• Sichuan peppercorns

• Chicken stock 

• Fresh egg noodles

• Ketjap Manis (Indonesian sweet soy sauce) 

• Roasted unsalted peanuts - roughly chopped

• Spring onions (scallions)

Top Tip!

You can buy Szechuan peppercorns, Ketjap Manis and Shaoxing rice wine in any good supermarket such as Sainsbury's or Waitrose.

Have you tried this recipe? Please leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ star rating in the recipe card below!

dan dan noodles recipe, dan dan mian, Chinese pork stir fry,

dinner, main

Chinese

Yield: 2-4

Author: Jan Bennett

Dan Dan Noodles

Serves 2-4 depending on any side dishes.

Prep time: 15 MinCook time: 15 MinTotal time: 30 Min

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon of chilli oil
• 400g pork mince (ground pork) - low-fat (5%)
• 2 tablespoons of dark soy sauce
• ½ a tablespoon of Shaoxing (Chinese rice wine)
• a splash of sesame oil
• 1 medium onion - very finely chopped
• 3 fat cloves of garlic - very finely chopped
• fresh ginger - about 2 inches by 1 inch in size and then peeled and finely chopped

Peanut butter mixture, mix together the following

• 2 good heaped tablespoons of smooth peanut butter
• 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
• ½ of a Knorr chicken stock cube - diluted in 200ml of boiling water
• 2 heaped tablespoons chilli sauce (I use 'Maggi Extra hot') use less or more to suit your taste

Toast, then grind

• 2 heaped tablespoons of Sichuan peppercorns

You will also need

• a splash of chilli oil
• 400g of fresh egg noodles (the pre-cooked kind found in the stir-fry section of the supermarket)
• 1 heaped tablespoon Ketjap Manis (Indonesian sweet soy sauce)

To serve

• a handful of roasted, unsalted peanuts - roughly chopped
• 3 spring onions (green/scallions) - sliced on the diagonal

Instructions

1. Lightly toast the Szechuan peppercorns in a dry frying pan. Keep them moving so they don't burn, they do burn very easily and will taste bitter if they do. Remove from the pan, use a pestle and mortar to grind them then set aside.
2. Add the chilli oil to the wok and heat. Add the pork mince, dark soy sauce and Shaoxing to a bowl and mix. Heat a large frying pan and stir-fry until the pork begins to brown and is 'almost' cooked. Then tip the pork into a clean bowl and set aside.
3. Heat a splash of sesame oil in the wok and add the chopped onions. Stir-fry until they're nice and soft, but not coloured. Throw in the garlic and ginger and stir-fry for about a minute.
4. Add the pork back to the wok with the peanut butter mixture (above). Stir-fry until the pork is cooked through.
5. Then add the toasted and ground peppercorns along with the chicken stock. Give it all a good stir and let it simmer for about 5 minutes.
6. Meanwhile (in a separate pan), heat a little chilli oil, add the noodles and stir-fry. If they clump together, add a tiny splash of water to loosen them. Stir in the ketjap manis to taste.
7. Serve the noodles with the spicy pork mixture. Sprinkle over the spring onion and the chopped peanuts and serve.

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