Weeknight Dan Dan Noodles with Crispy Pork and Sesame Chilli Sauce

⏱ 30 min · Serves 2

Springy wheat noodles pooled in a nutty, tingly sesame-chilli sauce, crowned with crackly minced pork and preserved veg. It tastes like a Chengdu street stall but comes together in half an hour with supermarket ingredients.

Per serving: 812 kcal · 42.0g protein · 72.0g carbs · 40.0g fat

Ingredients

• 200g fresh or dried thin wheat noodles
• 250g pork mince
• 2 tbsp Sichuan preserved vegetable (ya cai) or finely chopped kimchi, squeezed dry
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine
• 1 tsp dark soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp five spice powder
• 2 tbsp Chinese sesame paste (or smooth tahini)
• 2 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp chilli oil, plus 1 tsp of the sediment
• 1 tsp Chinkiang black vinegar
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground roasted Sichuan peppercorns
• 2 garlic cloves, finely grated
• 120ml hot unsalted chicken stock or noodle water
• 2 spring onions, finely sliced
• 100g baby pak choi or spinach
• 1 tbsp toasted peanuts, roughly crushed

Method

1. Whisk the sesame paste, light soy, chilli oil and sediment, black vinegar, sugar, ground Sichuan pepper and garlic in a bowl. Loosen with the hot stock a splash at a time until it is the consistency of double cream. Divide between two deep bowls.
2. Heat the vegetable oil in a wok or frying pan over high heat. Add the pork mince and press it flat, letting it colour undisturbed for 3 minutes.
3. Break up the mince and stir-fry for 4-5 minutes until deeply browned and crisp at the edges. Add the Shaoxing wine, dark soy and five spice, then the preserved vegetable, and fry 2 minutes more until dry and fragrant. Turn off the heat.
4. Boil the noodles in plenty of unsalted water according to the packet, dropping the pak choi in for the last 45 seconds. Scoop out 100ml noodle water before draining in case you need to loosen the sauce.
5. Drain the noodles and greens well and pile straight onto the sauce in the bowls.
6. Spoon over the crispy pork, scatter with spring onions and crushed peanuts, then toss everything up from the bottom before eating so every strand is coated.