Cook up these mouth-watering Chinese noodles which have gone viral in less than 10 minutes.
If you’re on social media then you’ll know that Dan Dan noodles have been taking it by storm. You only have to type “Dan Dan noodles” into TikTok’s search function for hundreds of videos to pop up.
A popular Chinese street food, the recipe for this noodle dish can vary across the country, with some liking it sweeter, and some enjoying it spicier.
A combination of sweet, sour and savoury flavours, Dan Dan noodles may look simple to make, but the key to perfecting this dish is playing around with the recipe quantities to find a concoction that suits your taste buds.
As a spice lover, I wanted to add in some extra heat so decided to use the LaoGanMa peanuts in chilli oil which I had picked up at my local Chinese store, Matthews.
This condiment is a great flavour enhancer and is a sweetened soybean sauce, infused with chilli peppers and combined with peanuts.
The name “Dan Dan noodles” comes from street food vendors who carried a pole (aka the dan dan) to alert the public that they had baskets of noodles with sauce available.
While I just enjoyed the noodles as they were, feel free to add pak choi, bok choy, any other Chinese vegetables, steak, chicken or seafood to this dish to make it a heartier eat.
Dan Dan noodles
(Serves 2)
Ingredients
- A glug of cooking oil
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- ½ tbsp chilli flakes
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds
- Szechwan pepper
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tbsp black vinegar
- 1 heaped tbsp chilli oil (I used LaoGanMa peanuts in chilli oil)
- 1 tbsp peanut butter
- 2 portions of noodles
Method
- Boil a pot of water to cook your noodles in.
- Heat up the cooking oil in a pan until it is hot.
- While the oil is heating put the garlic, chilli flakes, sesame seeds and Szechwan pepper in a bowl and mix it together.
- Add the hot oil into the mix and continue to stir. Add the soy sauce, sugar, black vinegar, chilli oil and peanut butter.
- Place your noodles into the boiling water and cook (follow packet instructions).
- Add two tablespoons of the noodle water to your sauce when your noodles are ready and mix together.
- Drain your noodles and then add your noodles into the bowl, covering them in the sauce.
- They can be enjoyed on their own or served with cooked Chinese vegetables, chicken or steak to make into a meal.