Do it yourself dan dan noodles

By Leah Eskin

Chicago Tribune

Order the dan dan noodles, my husband urged. So I did. He’s got good taste, and noodles almost always taste good. Besides, I didn’t want to admit I’d never heard of dan dan.

The noodles, scattered with pork bits and sesame seeds, lolled in a mysterious red-brown sauce. I stabbed in my chopsticks, swirled and slurped up a silky, spicy extravagance. Way beyond good.

The next time I faced a Sichuan menu, I lunged straight for the dan dan. This version came under a heap of wilted greens. It was even spicier - and even better. I started scouting spots for carryout. Nightly. I was developing a dan dan problem.

The solution, I thought, was knowledge. Dan dan, I learned, means pole. Once, the street vendor shouldered a bamboo pole, each end dangling one basket of slim noodles and another of pepper-spiked red-brown sauce.

This knowledge did nothing to curb my dan dan cravings. What I really needed - short of a vendor stationed at the kitchen door - was the recipe. Now there’s a dangerous thing.

DAN DAN NOODLES

Prep: 1 hour

Cook: 10 minutes

Makes: 4 servings

2bunches baby bok choy

Salt

Sesame oil

1/2pound fresh or dried Chinese noodles

1/4 cup soy sauce

3 tablespoons sunflower seed butter

2 tablespoons sambal

1 tablespoon dark brown sugar

1 tablespoon rice wine (or other) vinegar

1/2 teaspoon each: ground star anise, ground coriander, ground Sichuan (or black) pepper

1 pinch ground cinnamon

1 pound boneless pork sirloin, cubed

1 tablespoon canola oil

2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

Chili oil

1/4 cup each: toasted sesame seeds, finely chopped green onions

Blanch: Bring a big pot of salted water to a boil. Add bok choy; cook until leaves wilt bright green and stems turn tender, 2-3 minutes. Using tongs, pull out bok choy; rinse under cool water. Sprinkle with a little salt; drizzle with a little sesame oil.

Boil: Add noodles to the hot water; cook until tender but firm. Scoop out 1 cup of the cooking water. Drain noodles; rinse under cool water. Toss with a little salt and sesame oil.

Swirl: Blend together 1/4 cup of the reserved cooking water, soy sauce, sunflower seed butter, sambal, sugar, vinegar, anise, coriander, pepper and cinnamon.

Chop: Toss pork cubes in the food processor. Pulse several times.

Brown: Heat canola oil in a wide heavy skillet. Add pork; cook until browned and cooked through, about 8 minutes. Stir in ginger and garlic; cook until fragrant, 30 seconds. Pour in sauce; cook 1 minute. Add 1/4 cup reserved water (or more) to achieve a thin sauce that isn’t sticky. Pull pan off heat.

Build: Pour 1 tablespoon chili oil into each of 4 shallow bowls. (Use less for those who are spice averse.) Add pork sauce to each bowl. Scatter on sesame seeds. Heap noodles on top of sauce. Settle a few bok choy stems alongside. Sprinkle on green onions. Let each guest swirl and dig in.

Sunflower seed butter is shelved near the peanut butter (which works as a substitution, in a pinch). Sambal, a paste made from red chilies, is available in the Asian-food section of the grocery store.

Provenance: Inspired by Dooby’s restaurant, Baltimore.