Dan Dan Noodle

I know that Dandan noodle or Dandan Mian may sound like a made up dish to most but I can assure you that it truly does exist. The name Dandan refers to the carrying pole that the street vendors used who sold the dish, it consists of a spicy broth, noodles, pickled spicy  cabbage, mince meat (either pork or beef) and copious amounts of chilli oil. 

 What makes this Noodle soup so deliciously addictive is the use of Sichuan pepper corns, indicative to the regional cuisine of the Sichuan province. Although it is called Sichuan pepper, technically it is a dried berry and is often teamed with fiery chillies. Sichuan peppercorns have a mouth numbing, tingling quality that is said to reduce the heat of the chilli. I'm not sure that it entirely true but I know that as far as asian noodle soups go this is by far the most delicious, trust me I eat a lot of noodle based broths. 

Pickled cabbage

 This is also my husbands favourite, he is a noodle junkie, this was the perfect fix. If you love the fire of chilli this will be just what the doctor ordered.

You will need:(for the meat)
250g of beef or pork mince (I chose pork)
1 tbsp of chinese sesame paste (totally different to tahini)
1 tbsp of shaoxing rice wine
1 tbsp of light soy sauce
1 tbsp of black rice vinegar
1 tsp of chilli bean paste
2 tsp of salt
1 tsp of crushed white pepper
1 tsp of white sugar
2 tsp of Sichuan pepper corns finely ground
50g of chopped fresh ginger
50g of chopped garlic
1 tbsp of sesame oil
50g of preserved spicy chinese cabbage

Add all the above ingredients together in a bowl  and mix well until combined, fry the meat in a frying pan until cooked through and set aside for later.

For the broth:
2 pints of chicken stock
1 tbsp of sugar
1 tbsp of black rice vinegar
1 tbsp of chilli bean paste
2 tsp of sesame paste
2 tsp of Maldon salt (maldon is mild salt, taste your stock first before adding the salt)
4 tbsp of chilli oil

Other Items you will need:
200g of wheat noodles
four handfuls of bean sprouts
fresh corriander
chinese chives or spring onion

Place all of these ingredients in a saucepan and bring to the boil. In a separate pan cook 200g of wheat noodles, once cooked drain and distribute between four bowls, top with the minced meat mixture and then ladle over the broth, top with a handful of bean sprouts and chopped coriander leaves.

It went down well with hubby