Dan Dan Noodles with Fresh Homemade Noodles

With quarantine times upon us, I've been diving back into cooking a bit more and decided I wanted to give fresh noodles a shot! I can't emphasize enough how addicting I find hand-pulled noodles, the kind that you can get in certain Chinese restaurants (one of the most well-known being Xi'an Famous Foods in NYC), and while I didn't anticipate getting to that level, I wanted to try a beginner version of a similar type of noodle. 

I found a recipe that seemed simple enough. The basic dough is just flour and water, which I threw in my stand mixer to let the dough hook "knead" for 10 minutes. 

Then, I let the dough rest for about an hour and came back to portion it, roll it out flat, and then cut wide strips as shown above.

The recipe I used recommended pulling the noodles a bit before drying them for 30 minutes if using a wide cut, so I gave it a shot. This definitely wasn't a traditional hand-pulled noodle, since that technique typically uses an even softer dough and much more pulling to fully develop length and texture. Instead, this was a bit of a hybrid approach, since the noodles are cut and then pulled somewhat to lengthen. I didn't want to go straight to a hand-pulled recipe, since the technique seemed a bit intimidating!

As the noodles dried, I prepared the dan dan mian topping - a ground pork base with a bit of vegetable and lots of seasoning added. Though the recipe I used suggested keeping the sauce separate, I ended up tossing it in with my pork mix since that's more often how I had dan dan mian served to me. I used peanut butter in lieu of sesame paste, which works in a pinch, but I do wish I had the sesame paste! I feel like there's something more rich and umami about it.

The noodles cook up quickly - I did a tester, then cooked the rest in batches for 3-4 minutes each. They came out looking better than I thought! The texture, though not as good as fully hand-pulled noodles, was nice and somewhat chewy. (I meant to make this with bread flour, but realized I only had all purpose on hand - surprisingly, still pleased with the results!)

To serve, I set up a little bed of noodles, plopped down a nice helping of the pork and sauce mixture, threw on some cucumber, and then heaped on some additional toppings: chili oil (my FAVORITE - which, if you don't have it, what are you doing with your life - is Lao Gan Ma's spicy chili crisp), crushed roasted peanuts, and toasted sesame seeds.

If we were not in quaran-times, I would have loved to add some fresh cilantro and fresh green onions on top as well! I did have green onions frozen, which are cooked in but not so great for topping, but my cilantro-loving heart still weeps. It's just too hard to buy fresh herbs in advance, given their short lifespans and my constant cooking indecision! But even with all of the substitutions I made, this was absolutely delicious and I'm already thinking about prepping a bulk portion of the pork and sauce topping to freeze so that I can have it on hand and top everything with it...

Note: 2 separate batches are pictured; one where I had more fresh vegetables to work with! 

Fresh Homemade Noodles
adapted from Omnivore's Cookbook

Ingredients

500g bread flour (all-purpose works too) plus plenty of extra for dusting surfaces
240mL water (room temperature)

Instructions

1. In the mixing bowl of a stand mixer, add the flour. Start the mixer on low speed with the dough hook attachment. Begin streaming the water in gradually as the dough mixes until all of the water is added. Let the mixer run for about 10 minutes, until the dough forms a cohesive ball that is consistent and smooth. Transfer the dough to a clean working surface and shape it into a ball. (You can also do this kneading by hand.)
2. Dust a large bowl with flour. Transfer the dough ball into the prepared bowl, cover with a clean dish towel, and then cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a lid. Let rest for at least 30 minutes, up to 3 hours.
3. After resting, divide the dough into 2 equal pieces on a floured working surface. Work on one ball at a time, keeping the other one covered with a damp dish towel.
4. Press the dough into a flat disc, then use a rolling pin to flatten and shape it into a thin rectangle. Try to get the sheet quite thin - for instance, 3mm or under.
5. Dust the dough with flour and fold the dough up, cinnamon roll-style, into a long, flat strip. Using a sharp, dry knife, slice across the strip (along the short side) to make your noodles.
6. Unfold the cut noodles and hang them to dry for 30 minutes. (If you're making wide noodles and want to hand-pull them like I did, do so after cutting and before drying.)
7. To cook the noodles, bring a large pot of water to boil. Add the noodles and stir after dropping them in to prevent sticking. Cook for 3-4 minutes, then remove from the water. They are now ready to serve. (These noodles stick easily once cooked, so if you're not eating them right away, toss them with a bit of oil to prevent the sticking!)

Dan Dan Noodles (担担面) 

adapted from Omnivore's Cookbook

Ingredients

Sauce:
1/3 cup Chinese sesame paste (substitutable by peanut butter, ideally natural unsweetened)
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup black vinegar (such as Chinkiang brand)
4 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 green onions, finely minced
2 tbsp honey
1/2 to 1tsp ground peppercorns (preferably Sichuan peppercorns but I just used black pepper)

Pork topping:
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 lb ground pork
1 tbsp minced ginger
2 green onions, chopped
2 tbsp Shaoxing wine
1/2 tsp sugar

For assembly:
1/3 cup roasted peanuts, crushed
14 oz wheat noodles
Chili oil, to taste
Toasted sesame seeds

Instructions

1. Prepare the sauce: Whisk together the sesame paste, soy sauce, and vinegar. Then stir in the garlic, green onions, honey, and peppercorns.

2. Prepare the pork topping: On medium-high heat, lightly brown the ground pork. Turn the heat down to medium and add in the ginger, green onion, cooking wine, and sugar. Cook until liquid evaporates and the pork is thoroughly broken up and browned. Set aside. (Optional: you can combine the sauce with the pork topping at this stage when the pork is taken off the heat.)

3. Prepare the noodles: Cook the noodles according to package instructions, or as above if using homemade noodles.

4. Assemble: For each noodle bowl, top with a helping of the sauce, some of the pork topping, and add some chili oil to taste. Garnish with crushed peanuts and toasted sesame seeds. Can be served hot or cold! This recipe makes 4-6 servings depending on desired portion size.

Definitely one of the top savory dishes I've made - though it seems complex, most of the steps are actually quite simple. I highly recommend giving it a try!