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morsels45 said

Dan dan noodles

Sichuan pepper, chilli oil, pork, and a puddle of sauce at the bottom to stir up.

Dan dan noodles
Photo: Steven G. Johnson, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. A photo of the dish, not of these exact recipes.

That was somebody else’s answer. Yours takes about twenty seconds: a handful of either-ors, then one dish.

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How to make dan dan noodles

2 genuinely different takes — a classic, and a faster or lighter route. The same ones the app hands you once you have decided.

Sichuan, with the sauce underneath

30 minutes · serves 2 · Medium

What you need

  • 200g wheat noodles
  • 200g pork mince
  • 2 tbsp ya cai or preserved mustard greens
  • 3 tbsp chilli oil with its sediment
  • 2 tbsp sesame paste
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tsp Sichuan peppercorns, toasted and ground
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • Spring onion

What you do

  1. 1Fry the mince hard with the preserved greens until dry and crisp at the edges, 8 minutes. Dry, not saucy.
  2. 2Build the sauce in the bottom of each bowl: sesame paste loosened with a splash of noodle water, soy, chilli oil, ground pepper, sugar, crushed garlic.
  3. 3Noodles on top of the sauce, not mixed in. The mince goes over.
  4. 4Stirred at the table by whoever is eating it. That is the dish — everyone gets a different first mouthful.

Vegetarian, with mushrooms

25 minutes · serves 2 · Easy

What you need

  • 200g noodles
  • 200g mushrooms, chopped fine
  • Preserved greens
  • Sesame paste, soy, chilli oil
  • Sichuan pepper
  • Garlic

What you do

  1. 1Fry the mushrooms until all their water has gone and they brown, 10 minutes.
  2. 2Same sauce in the bowl, noodles, mushrooms on top.